Love is in the air
by Yellowwolf
Summary: PRNS, Dustin/Hunter. Hunter has feelings for a certain yellow ranger. Said yellow ranger doesn't know. Will Hunter tell him? And what will happen when a ghost from Hunter's past turns up? R&R! Last chapter up.
1. The Beach

**Disclaimer: **If I owned them, PRNS would still be on the air and Dustin and Hunter would be together.

**Author's note: **I felt the need to write a NS story so this is the start of the new one! I hope this one will actually get finished. But I'm feeling good about this story! Anyway, this title is kind of temporary until I come with a better one (which is not likely to happen) Suggestions are welcome! Enjoy!

**Love is in the air  
The beach**

Hunter Bradley, Thunder Ranger and master brooder, sat on his towel on the warm sand, staring out over a relatively calm ocean. The beach was one of his favorite places to come think because he found the sounds of the waves soothing. The beach was pretty quiet which was a bit unusual because the weather was really nice. Although it was seven pm, it was still warm out, warm enough for him to sit with nothing but a pair of swimming shorts on.

The past week had been crazy. Between training sessions, fighting monsters, riding his bike and work, he hadn't had any real down time. He was taking full advantage of the quiet now. He often still couldn't believe how his life had turned out. He was one of the Rangers, protecting Blue Bay Harbor and the entire world from a space alien with a bad taste in monsters and a habit of sending them at the worst possible times. Yet he never regretted his choice of joining the Wind Rangers because being a ranger made him feel like he mattered, it made him feel as if he could make a real difference in the world. And it had given him some great friends. They had gotten off to a rocky start but things were great between the rangers now. Blake got along with everyone too and it was great to see his brother happy. Yet another reason to stay in the bay. He quite liked his life here and he wouldn't give it for anything.

"Hey, dude."

Hunter looked up to find Dustin standing next to him, hands leaning on his knees while trying to catch his breath.

"Please don't tell me you've actually gone for a run. We've done nothing but train the past week." Hunter remarked.

Dustin smiled, pulled off his t-shirt and flopped down next to him. "I felt like going for a run so I did."

"You're insane."

"I know." Dustin smiled wickedly at him and Hunter couldn't help smiling back. The younger earth ninja had always had a calming effect on him. He liked being in his presence. He couldn't figure out though when his feelings of friendship had turned into more. He didn't understand where the sudden fondness for Dustin had come from. All he knew was that he didn't mind feeling this way about Dustin because it actually made him feel good.

He wondered what Dustin would do if he knew though. Would he still be sitting here next to him with that smile on his face and without a shirt? Would he still be so carelessly joking around with him and touching him casually? It were the answers to those questions that made him scared of finding them out. It wasn't worth risking his friendship over so instead, he pretended to be happy with being Dustin's friend. He told himself that was good but deep

down in his heart, he realized he wanted more than that. It hurt when he saw Dustin flirt with another girl. It hurt when that beautiful smile wasn't directed at him.

"What are you doing here by yourself?"

Hunter shrugged. "Blake had agreed to meet Tori and I didn't want to sit at the apartment by myself. Figured I should come to the beach, enjoy the peace and quiet and the sun while I still can."

"Yeah, I get what you mean, dude. No monsters, no work, no training. This is heaven."

"Shut up before you jinx it. Honestly, I'm not getting up to fight a monster now."

Dustin laughed. Hunter loved how his eyes sparkled when he laughed. It was so easy to open up to Dustin because he just had this very open, very trusting personality. One of Dustin's gifts was that he could cheer anyone up. Sure, the yellow ranger could be an airhead from time to time but Hunter didn't mind much. It was usually cute and funny. He had it bad.

No one, not even Blake, knew about his feelings. He'd kept his emotions for Dustin carefully hidden. He'd only had one boyfriend before and that hadn't gone so well. He wasn't really gay, more bi. He didn't easily fall in love with guys, but he'd fallen in love with Dustin. He didn't understand how anyone could not be into him. He was an incredibly sweet and trusting guy, always there to help. He was very handsome too. His brown hair was always messy but it fit him. There was always this sparkle in his warm, chocolate brown eyes and his smile was to die for. It could light up an entire room.

They sat in comfortable silence, looking out over the ocean.

"Hey, want to go for a swim?" Dustin asked suddenly.

"Now?"

Dustin rolled his eyes. "Come on, dude. It's still light and quite warm."

"Sure. Why not?" Hunter agreed. Why would he pass up the opportunity to see a wet Dustin? Besides, them going in the sea usually ended with them trying to push each other under water which usually happened with a lot of bodily contact. He was definitely up for that. Figuratively because literally might just scare Dustin off. He really needed to get his mind out of the gutter.

He stood up and helped his friend to his feet. The sun light fell on Dustin's face, it made his eyes glow and made them seem even warmer than usual. He quickly broke eye contact before Dustin noticed him staring.

"Last one in the water is a rotten egg!" Hunter yelled and he took off before the sentence was even finished. He heard a cry of disbelief behind him but he'd already reached the ocean. The water hit his legs as he ran in When he was in far enough, he dove in.

Dustin grinned and ran as fast as he could but by the time he reached the water, the blond mop of hair had already vanished below the surface. The water was quite cold but it felt good on his heated skin. When he was knee deep in the water, he followed Hunter's example and dove right in. For a second, he felt as if he was being frozen alive but then he adjusted to the water.

He came back up several feet further, near the Thunder ranger who was floating lazily on his back with his eyes closed. He swam the remaining distance.

"You're a cheater!" he said, playfully sending some water in Hunter's direction. The other boy spluttered when some of the salty water ran in his mouth. Dustin smirked.

Hunter glared a bit. "Man, salty water tastes too bad."

"Well, that's what you get for being a stinking cheater, dude." Dustin pointed out.

Hunter laughed. "It's not cheating, considering I didn't actually say when we'd start."

"Okay, but it's still low."

"Well, sometimes, a person has got to be sneaky." Hunter said, smiling sweetly before he closed his eyes again.

Dustin shook his head and wiped some wet hair away from his eyes. He decided to follow Hunter's example and laid on his back, floating easily. The sun was warm on his chest. The water seemed to be giving his back a massage. He could easily fall asleep like this. This was heaven, just relaxing, doing nothing and enjoying the weather and Hunter's company. What more could he want?

He was dimly aware of a shadow falling over his face. Before it fully registered, water engulfed his entire body. He opened his mouth automatically to cry out and got a mouth full of the salty water. He came back up, coughing and trying to spit out the water. He opened his eyes and noticed Hunter laughing like a maniac while swimming backwards away from him.

"Oh, it's so on!" Dustin yelled as he started swimming. His eyes stung a bit from the water but he was fully focused on making sure he would get his revenge on Hunter.

Hunter laughed when Dustin started swimming towards him. He was not worried although Dustin was a good swimmer. He was actually stronger. In the water, that didn't mean all that much but if it came to their usual fighting match, he would win. He turned in the water and started swimming forwards. Knowing it would be better to stay close to his towel, he started swimming to the right and back towards the beach. Dustin would catch up with him before he would have to stand up.

He was right. A hand grabbed his ankle and pulled him back, causing him to go under. Since he'd been expecting it, his mouth remained shut and he didn't get a mouthful this time. He turned under water, reached for Dustin's shoulders and pushed him under while he came back up. As soon as his vision had cleared, he let go and swam further while Dustin recuperated.

He could hear Dustin's laugh drift over to him, carried by the gentle wind. The wind made goose bumps break out across Hunter's skin. He smiled unwillingly at Dustin's laugh and swam further.

Next thing he heard was a cry of pain which had definitely come from Dustin. Fear settled on him and he turned around , fully expecting to see kelzacks or a monster. He only saw Dustin who had an expression of pain on his face and who had stopped swimming forwards. With a few powerful strokes, Hunter reached the other boy.

"What's wrong?" he asked, worry sounding clearly in his voice. Had Dusting gotten bitten by something?

"Cramp, cramp. It freaking hurts, dude."

Hunter let out a relieved little laugh. Only a cramp, nothing serious.

Dustin glared at him. "Not funny, dude."

"Can you swim?" Hunter asked.

Dustin shook his head. "It's in my leg, it hurts like hell if I try to push it back.."

"Alright. Do you think you can swim a bit with one leg if you hold on to me? We need to get back to the shore."

Dustin nodded. He rested his arm over his shoulder, their sides were pressed tightly together. Hunter started swimming and Dustin followed his example, only using one leg and one arm. They went surprisingly fast under the circumstances. Dustin may only be using one arm and leg but his strokes were powerful. The yellow ranger was stronger than people, including himself, gave him credit for. They swam until they had to stand. Hunter wrapped an arm around Dustin's waist to steady the younger boy. They were still knee deep in the water and Dustin only using one leg proved to be difficult. He nearly slipped but Hunter managed to hold the both of them up.

It went slightly better when they left the water. They reached Hunter's towel and he carefully lowered Dustin down on it.

Hunter kneeled down in front of him. "Which leg and where is the cramp?"

"Right, my calf." Dustin muttered with an expression of pain clear on his features.

Hunter gently took Dustin's right foot in his hand. "Can you move your foot?"

"It hurts when I try."

"I'm going to push against your foot. It might hurt but it just might help the muscle to relax. Ready?"

Dustin nodded and bit his lower lip.

Hunter pushed Dustin's foot back. The other boy yelped. Hunter pulled his foot back and then pushed again.

"It's better now."

"Alright. Just keep moving your foot a bit." Hunter advised and sat down next to Dustin while he did what was instructed.

"Thanks, that really hurt."

"I can imagine. Cramps happen after you train too much. Guess the run was too much. And you didn't stretch either."

"That'll teach me," Dustin said, laughing a bit. He pulled his knees up to his chest and stared out over the water and the setting of the sun. He shivered lightly at the breeze.

Hunter placed his hands behind him and leaned back, looking at the younger boy who was now entirely focused on the sun. If they weren't just friends, this would actually be romantic.

He felt affection rise in his heart and he ached to pull Dustin in his arms. His hands clenched, grabbing a handful of sand. He had to restrain himself from doing exactly what he wanted to do.

A feeling of complete ease came over Dustin. He felt happy. He didn't know why but the happiness just overcame him. This moment, whatever it was, was perfect. Sitting here with Hunter, seeing the sun set. It was amazing. He didn't think anything of it. Why would it be wrong to enjoy seeing the sun set with a friend? It didn't have to mean anything.

As the last ray of the orange sun dropped below the horizon, Dustin let out a small sigh. Now that the sun was gone though, it was quite cold.

"We can better head back." Hunter spoke as if he'd read his mind.

Dustin nodded his agreement and pulled his shirt back on. The boys got to their feet. Hunter grabbed his towel and shook of the sand.

"Do you want a ride?"

"Yeah, that would be good." Dustin agreed.

By the time they reached Hunter's car, the moon and the stars shone brightly upon them. The temperature had dropped considerably. They got into the warmer car and drove of to Dustin's house.

_Author's note: So, what do you think so far? Review! I've got a lot of great ideas for this story! _


	2. Decisions

**Disclaimer: **see first chapter

**Author's note:** Thanks for the reviews! Marcus, your review made me laugh. I can float like the best, hahaha. Anyway, enjoy guys!!

**Love is in the air  
Decisions**

The next morning started out as a regular morning. Hunter, Dustin and Blake had to work at Storm Chargers. Hunter and Blake had arrived nicely on time. Half an hour after the shop opened, there was still no sign of the yellow ranger. If the glare in Kelly's eyes was anything to go by, Dustin was in some serious trouble. It just made Hunter and Blake smile. Dustin and arriving somewhere on time were like fire and water. If they had to guess, Dustin had probably forgotten to set his alarm clock again.

Dustin stormed in ten minutes later, completely out of breath. "Kel, I'm so sorry. My alarm clock didn't work." Dustin said quickly, staring at his boss with those big brown eyes. The glare immediately vanished from Kelly's face.

"Just get to work, Dustin."

"Right away, boss!" Dustin said, smiling and hurrying off into the back to check the inventory.

"I don't know how he does it," Blake muttered to Hunter while they were unloading the boxes on the other side of the store and putting stuff on the racks. "If I was late, she'd yell at me!"

"If you don't stop talking about me, I will yell at you as well."

Hunter and Blake both jumped. They had not heard her come closer.

"Good god, Kel, how do you do that?" Hunter asked, heart beating wildly. She was better at sneaking up on them than they were on sneaking up on her which was a disgrace considering they were ninjas and she was not.

Kelly smiled. "Simple. Guys can only do one thing at the time. So when you're talking, you're too focused on the conversation to notice anything else."

Blake opened his mouth to protest but then closed it again. She might have a point. He settled for glaring.

"Back to work, boys. The shelves aren't going to restock themselves." Kelly smiled again and walked away.

"I bet she's some kind of a ninja."

"With a good hearing!" Came Kelly's voice.

Hunter laughed at the look on Blake's face. It was one of pure disbelief.

Next thing they knew, there was a loud crash in the back which made the Thunder brothers jump and drop the pairs of gloves they were holding. Hunter's worry spiked at once. Dustin was not always the most handy person on the planet. He sped of to the back and reached it before Kelly had and she was closer.

Much to his relief, Dustin was still standing. He seemed to have pushed over several boxes. Dustin smiled sheepishly.

"I'll uh, clean that up," he mumbled, looking down at the ground. A blush colored his cheeks. If anything, it looked cute.

Kelly sighed and shook her head. "Hunter, help him, will you?"

"Sure, Kel." Hunter agreed and bent down alongside of Dustin to clean up the mess he'd made. Luckily, he hadn't pushed over anything with a fluid in it. It were mostly gloves and motorcycle parts.

"I'm such an idiot," Dustin said embarrassed, staring up at him through long eyelashes.

"Happens to everyone," Hunter said soothingly and he squeezed Dustin's shoulder. Anyone else would've teased Dustin about this. Instead, he felt the need to make the younger boy feel better.

Dustin smiled thankfully. They picked up the rest of it in silence. Hunter was very much aware of Dustin sitting so close to him. He could practically feel the warmth of his body, could hear his breathing. These feelings for Dustin, they were definitely getting stronger. He had felt it last night on the beach and he felt it now. He had to be careful though. Not just careful of trying to not show Dustin but also that it wouldn't end up hurting him too much. Perhaps he should just tell Dustin. His heart told him he should, told him Dustin might feel the same. His head told him he definitely shouldn't, that Dustin couldn't feel the same about him. He threw a pair of gloves back in their box with a little bit more force than necessary. He needed to find a solution.

"I better get back to helping Blake," Hunter said. He suddenly felt the need to get away from Dustin. Staying so close to him was not doing him any favors.

"Sure, man, thanks." Dustin said, smiling up at his friend.

"Don't mention it." Hunter hurried off.

Dustin raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why had he hurried off like that? Dustin didn't really understand it but he chose not to think too hard about it. They were nearly done anyway. Hunter probably thought he could handle it alone.

He was very relieved when he picked up the last pair of gloves. He could not believe how much of an idiot he was. He was constantly running things over or just running into them. Probably because he was such an airhead. He didn't understand how his friends put up with him. He wasn't necessarily dumb but his friends were definitely smarter than him. It made him feel bad sometimes, especially when they made fun of him. He knew though they never meant to hurt him but sometimes they actually did. He sighed and continued the work he'd been doing before he'd knocked over the boxes.

From one pm, Hunter was in charge of the counter. He liked that. He could easily watch the people who entered. He liked studying them. Seconds ago, a beautiful girl and her boyfriend had entered the shop. The girl looked very much as if she wanted to be somewhere else while the boy seemed like he was in heaven. He had the feeling they wouldn't last that long as a couple. She didn't seem to be able to force herself to even remotely act interested while he stared at a surfboard with a smile on his face. She was on the phone, giggling. No doubt talking to one of her girlfriends. They were too different, he could tell.

Dustin and him were different too but at the same time, they had a lot in common. They both liked motocross, were very much into sports, liked some of the same music and movies, magazines too. Personality wise, they were opposites but he was sure they would balance each other out. A small smile crossed his face. They would be good together.

The girl and the boy were now quietly arguing and seconds later, the girl stormed out. The boy was left in the shop, glaring at nothing in particular and looking thoroughly irritated. Instead of going after her, he remained in the shop and returned his focus back to the surfboards. They definitely wouldn't be lasting much longer as a couple.

"Checking out the customers again, bro?" Blake asked smirking as he reached around him to grab a pair of scissors.

Hunter grinned, "She was pretty but she looked a bit too snobbish."

"Yeah, I caught part of their conversation. They're so going to break up."

Kelly appeared in front of them, leaning her elbows on the counter. "I agree but don't let him hear you say that." She smiled. "I'm going to take my lunch break. Can you guys hold down the fortress until I get back?"

"Sure thing, Kel."

"Good. Now be sure to actually do some work." She said with a knowing look in her eyes. They tended to not do all that much when Kelly wasn't around. They usually just stood around, chatting and doing some work but not as much as they should. They could though. Storm Chargers was pretty popular in the area but not to the extent that it was continuously packed with people. At the end of the day, they always got their jobs done so Kelly didn't say anything about it.

Dustin joined them just as Shane, Tori and an annoyed Cam entered the store.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Dustin greeted his friends brightly.

"The sky," Cam muttered and glanced around. He had a sour expression on his face.

Shane rolled his eyes, "Cam is a bit upset because we convinced Sensei it would be better for Cam to go to the beach with us. Sensei kind of forced him. Cam's been pouting ever since we left Ninja Ops."

"I do not pout!" Cam said, glaring daggers at the red ranger who just smiled sweetly.

"You do need to get out more, bro." Blake agreed. "Sitting in front of that computer all day is definitely not good for you. Besides, you've got CC."

"I still need to reprogram him because _someone_ decided it would be fun to take him out riding which then made him uncontrollable."

Dustin blushed and looked the other way. He wisely didn't try to defend himself. The others just laughed.

"Anyway, we just wanted to drop by to say 'hi'. See you guys later!" Tori said, sending a smile over at Blake. The Navy Ranger grinned back stupidly.

"Don't forget, training tonight!" Cam warned.

"We know!" Dustin, Hunter and Blake said. If Cam didn't stop reminding about a training three times a day, they would seriously stuff a gag down his mouth and tie him up.

Their three friends left and Hunter smiled at his brother.

"What?" Blake asked, crossing his arms in defense.

"You're sooo in love with Tori,"

"Oh, shut up!" Blake muttered, obviously embarrassed. To escape further teasing, he hurried off to continue doing his work. Laughter follow him and a blush rose to his cheeks. He was in love with the blue ranger. She was the most beautiful girl in the world, both inside and out. They'd been flirting for a while but nothing had really happened yet. Everyone kept telling him to ask her out but he was honestly too scared. He was afraid that they might not hit it off if it was just the two of them and he didn't want things to become awkward between them. He realized though that she wouldn't wait forever.

"If Blake doesn't do something soon, Tori is going to find someone else," Hunter said shaking his head.

"Yeah, man, she might like him … a lot but she's not going to wait forever. He obviously likes her a lot so he should take the risk and tell her. Love is worth the risk." Dustin agreed and turned to stare at Blake.

It hit Hunter suddenly that Dustin just might run into someone soon too and then his chance would be lost. Yet he didn't know whether Dustin liked him in the same way. With Blake and Tori, it was awfully clear. If Blake made a move, they'd be together in no time. He didn't know if it would be like that with him and Dustin. But like Dustin said, love was worth the risk. Perhaps he should just take the risk. He nodded to himself. He would tell Dustin, right after practice. His courage immediately sank and his doubts returned full force. But he was going to go through with it, he had to.

When Kelly returned, the boys were already working hard.

The rangers all returned to Ninja Ops at eight pm. It was never too late for Cam to have training. They sometimes hated it but they did need it. They were the world's saviors, they could not afford to screw up and get theirs butts kicked, which sometimes did happen but they had defeated all monsters up to now and it was for their own good that they continued doing so.

Hunter, like most of the time, got paired up with Dustin. Shane was sparring against Cam and Tori was sparring against Blake. They each took a training room.

Hunter got into a fighting stance and waited for Dustin to launch the first attack. It didn't take long for Dustin to do so. Dustin sent a roundhouse kick at him. Hunter blocked it relatively easy and sent his own kick at the earth ninja. Dustin's reflexes were quick and he blocked. The fight continued like that, both delivering and receiving kicks. Sometimes Hunter had the advantage, other times Dustin had the advantage and if Hunter was honest with himself, Dustin had the advantage most.

Hunter's attention, however, started to waver. He threw the training was almost over. At this moment, he prayed for a monster attack so that he didn't have to tell Dustin. But he was going to. He was not good with words. He'd thought of ways to say it all day but he knew that he would no say it in any of the ways that he'd rehearsed it.

He was too slow to block a kick which knocked the air out of him and made him fly backwards. He hit the ground quite hard. He noticed the ceiling was really clean. Weird. Not a spec of dirt over the entire surface.

"Hunter, dude, are you alright?" Dustin's face blocked his view of the ceiling.

"I'm fine. Wasn't paying attention." Hunter took the offered hand and pulled himself upright, holding on to Dustin's hand longer than necessary. Dustin's hand was warm and slightly sweaty in his. He could even feel Dustin's pulse beating in his veins. His thumb lightly moved over the pulse point. Dustin titled his head to the side and watched him curiously, with a hint of something in his eyes that Hunter couldn't quite decipher.

Hunter blushed a bit and pulled his hand back as if burned. Just as he was about to speak, Cam's voice sounded through their morphers.

"Training over, come back to the main room."

Hunter hurried out of the room with Dustin following close behind. A moment had just passed between them. Dustin's hand instinctively went to the place Hunter's hand had lingered. He could still feel its warmth. This was both interesting and confusing. His thumb rubbed over the place Hunter's thumb had rubbed over. That had definitely not been a friendship thing. There had been more to the small touch. Or perhaps he just wanted there to more, perhaps he was imagining things. He felt confused. Why did he want it to be more?

"How did it go?" Cam asked, looking from Dustin to Hunter and back.

"Dustin kicked my ass." Hunter admitted.

"What happened?" Cam asked.

"I wasn't as focused as I should've been," Hunter replied.

"Don't let it happen in a real fight." Cam warned. "Blake, Tori?"

Dustin stopped listening, his hand still covering the space where Hunter had touched him. He'd seen something in Hunter's eyes, something he hadn't noticed before. A warmth but something that went beyond friendship.

He was jolted out of his thoughts Shane jabbed him in the ribs.

"Cam said we can go home." Shane said, smiling.

"Right," Dustin agreed. He said good night to Cam and walked by Hunter's side to the exit.

Cam sighed and decided to look at the feed of the practice. He pulled up Dustin's and Hunter's first. He noticed it started out good but half way, he saw Hunter's attention waver up until the point where Dustin sent him sprawling. He shook his head and was about to pull up Blake's and Tori's when he saw Dustin pull Hunter upright. He watched closer. A look passed between them and Hunter held Dustin's hand longer than necessary. His eyebrow rose. He didn't know why it made him curious but it did. He rewound the video and stared again. There it was, that look. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. It seemed that Blake and Tori were not the only rangers in love.


	3. Tough times

**Disclaimer:** Oh, haven't you heard? I bought the rights to the series yesterday!

**Author's note: **Yay! Another update, so far I've been updating every week. Go me! I can't guarantee it will always be like this though. Keep sending me those thoughts and opinions on my story!

In reply to the reviews: thanks Whispering Ranger, KenzeiLee, CamFan4Ever (I'm so glad you're reading this! You're like my … hero when it comes to PRNS stories, haha) and Marcus1233 (interesting that you make the 'bottom' remark. It's like that, isn't it? Well, I can't say I won't do it in this story but let's just say you'll also get to know another side of Hunter along the way).

**Love is in the air  
Tough times**

Once they got outside, they noticed darkness had already settled. For some reason, it made Hunter feel more at ease. The darkness could both be threatening or soothing. Right now, it was soothing. He could feel some of the tension leave his body which made his shoulders drop slightly. He hadn't even noticed he'd pulled them up just the tinniest bit. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair. It felt good on his still heated skin from practice.

In front of them, Shane was telling loudly about some new skateboarding trick he'd mastered that day. Hunter smiled a bit. Shane was as passionate about skateboarding as he was about motocross.

"Dustin, I need to talk to you," Hunter said as quietly as possible.

"Sure, man, what's up?" Dustin asked, smiling.

"Privately."

Dustin's eyebrow rose. "Oh. Sure. Um. Well, you're with your own car, right? We can stay here and then you can drive me home."

Hunter wanted to speak but didn't trust his voice so he settled for nodding and trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. They told the other three of their plans to stay in the forest for a bit, under the cover of a re-match by dark and waited until they had gone through the portal. The sounds of chatter immediately died away and now the forest seemed more eerie than soothing. Even the breeze made him shiver now. Yet he knew nothing could happen to them here. Luckily, the moon was shining brightly and stars covered the night's sky. That way, they would not be completely in the dark.

"Let's walk," Hunter suggested. Somehow it seemed a lot easier to talk while they were walking. That way he didn't necessarily have to look at Dustin and could pretend he was talking to himself.

"Sure but whatever it is you want to say, hurry up," Dustin said but followed anyway, risking a nervous glance around him. He was not too keen on being in a dark forest. Too much horror movies did that to a person. He knew that if someone, or something, attacked them here, they would most likely win, what with them being ninjas and on top of that rangers. Even so, he didn't want to push his luck.

Hunter nodded and tried to think of what to say. All of his previous thoughts had gone out the window now that he was alone with Dustin. He had known that would happen. He was not 

one for expressing his feelings either and he could not believe he was going to come clean to Dustin about his feelings. Blake would probably be proud if he knew though.

"Hunter?"

A nearby branch cracked and Dustin jumped about a foot in the air and closer to him.

Hunter couldn't help but laugh. "Relax, Dustin. The only one who can attack us here is Cam."

"I know," Dustin mumbled, trying to calm down his racing heart. He walked a bit closer to Hunter. He'd seen enough horror movies to know that things could appear at any time and place. The area around Ninja Ops suddenly didn't seem so safe anymore. He kept looking around him.

"I suppose I'll just tell you," Hunter took a deep breath and cut right to the chase, "I'm in love with you."

The words needed several seconds to sink and when they did, Dustin forgot all about his fear of the forest and focused his full attention on the Thunder Ranger walking by his side.

Hunter risked a glance at him and could make out Dustin's more than a little shocked expression. His heart sank.

"Wow. I mean … wow." That was about the only thing Dustin managed to bring out at the current time. Thoughts ran through his head and he was having trouble formulating a reply to what Hunter had just said. It would help if he actually knew what his feelings towards Hunter were. He thought back to the night on the beach. He had felt very comfortable around Hunter, he'd almost felt as if it should be like that every day but did that mean that he could have a relationship with his friend? He couldn't imagine it but the idea wasn't at all unappealing.

He stopped and forced Hunter to stop by putting a hand on his arm. He looked up Hunter.

"Look, I'll be honest with you. I don't know what to make of my own feelings towards you. I feel like you've set this ball in motion but I cannot give you an answer now. I have to think about this." Dustin spoke.

Hunter's face fell and Dustin noticed.

"Look, man, that doesn't mean I'm rejecting you. I'm willing to give you a chance but I don't want to lead you on either so I want to know what I get myself into first." Dustin explained quickly. He was very proud that he managed to sound mature and rational. It was a nice change from his normal childish and impulsive behavior.

Hunter nodded and managed a smile. It was probably the best he could've hoped for. He hadn't expected a declaration of love back. He hadn't really known what to expect.

"Out of curiosity, for how long have you felt this way about me?"

The dark made Hunter slightly bolder and the words tumbled out of his mouth. "I don't know when it started but I've always been attracted to you. Then when I started to get to know you better, the feelings came. I don't know when I actually fell in love."

Dustin nodded. It was obvious Hunter at least knew what he was doing and that he hadn't acted out of impulse. If he was going to try to have a relationship with Hunter, he wanted to know that Hunter was genuine. Hunted had passed that test.

"I can't guarantee anything but I'll think about it."

"I have another idea. How about you let me take you out on a date? You can see what it's like and see how you feel then." The suggestion came out before he even had a chance to think about it.

Dustin tilted his head to the side and smiled. "Okay. That sounds good. But if we go on a date, I don't want to be around other people. At this stage, I don't want people to get the wrong idea."

Hunter nodded his agreement. "I'll think of something and let you know."

--

The next morning started out very much like the previous morning with the slight difference that Dustin managed to get there on time. In fact, he was five minutes early. Still completely out of breath but early. Hunter and Dustin kept exchanging glances throughout the entire morning. On the car ride home, they had agreed that they would also keep it a secret from their friends until they knew where they were headed. It wouldn't be easy, especially for Hunter because he would have to lie to his brother but they didn't want their friends to make a fuss of something that might not even work out.

Hunter was in the back when his morpher beeped. Cam's voice sounded through, telling him there was a monster in town. He hurried out to the front where Blake and Dustin were watching him, waiting for the news.

'Trouble,' he mouthed. Dustin and Blake nodded and with some hurried apologies directed at Kelly, left the store.

Kelly placed her hands on her hips, her lips thinned to a fine line. What was it with them and storming out? Every time they came back with an explanation that was even less believable than the one before that. She knew it must be important because they, especially Dustin, would not leave her like that. She had a suspicion but it sounded too ridiculous to think about it much, let alone say it out loud. She shook her head and returned to do her job while patiently waiting for her friends to return.

Dustin, Hunter and Blake were morphed and ready by the time they reached the square where Kelzacks were harassing people. Upon seeing the rangers arrive, they left the people alone and focused on them. The people used that time to run to safety. They were soon joined by the other three rangers. The Kelzacks were dealt with quickly. Dustin did not understand why Lothor kept sending them, they were dealt with within five minutes. If he was trying to exhaust them before sending the freak-of-the-week, then it was not working either. They didn't even break a sweat. It had become routine. They did not have to wait long for the monster.

If anything, it looked most like a centaur but with two heads and four spider like arms.

"Oh man, they keep getting uglier." Shane muttered.

"Let's get this over with," Hunter muttered, sounding bored.

Shane, Dustin and Tori drew their Ninja Swords and launched the first attack. The multiple arms proved to cause a problem for them. The monster managed to stop every swing they took at it. On of its arm slammed in to Dustin, sending him flying against a near by building. 

He slid down from the wall in a heap. Luckily, his suit absorbed most of the hit and he was back on his feet in no time.

Meanwhile, the Thunder Brothers had joined in the fight. With five of them fighting, they stood a bit more of a chance but the monster proved to have more tricks up its sleeve than they had initially expected. Out of its spider like arm, it shot a kind of web. Hunter used his shield to protect himself and Tori who was closest to him. Shane went up in the air but it caught Cam and Blake who both fell to the ground. They trashed around, obviously in agony but the others didn't know why.

Hunter, keeping his shield up, protected the Wind Rangers while they formed the Storm Striker. Hunter then jumped out of their way as a big red sphere left the weapon and crashed into the monster. It caused the monster to stumble back and release whatever hold it had on Blake and Cam. Hunter rushed forward to make sure they were okay while the other three launched another attack while the monster was recuperating. This time they managed to get a few fair hits in. Cam joined in while the Winds and the Thunders combined their weapons. The blast it caused proved enough to destroy the monster.

They didn't waste time with asking if everyone was okay and called for their Zords while the monster became at least ten times its size.

The monster shot out its web again, it enveloped their entire Zord.

"We're losing electricity!" Shane yelled, hastily pressing some buttons. It also felt as if they themselves were losing energy.

"Shane, this is going to sound crazy but turn the Zord off!" Cam yelled.

"We can turn the Zord off?" Dustin asked, "How?"

Shane knew better than to question Cam and did as he was told. The web fell off, there was no more electricity running through the Zord for it to drain. The Zord immediately sprung back online again. Upon Shane's orders, they placed their disks in the lock and turned the handle which made the Zord produce a sphere which carried a big sword. It only took one swipe for the monster to be destroyed again. Cheers of victory rose.

They met back on the ground, unmorphed.

"Everyone okay?" Cam asked.

"Feeling a bit faint." Blake mumbled. He did look pale.

"Yeah, me too." Cam admitted.

"We better get back to Ninja Ops," Shane suggested, supporting Cam as he wobbled a bit. Tori stayed close to Blake's side.

"We've got to head back to Storm Chargers," Dustin said. He did feel tired but they could not leave Kelly. They'd been gone long enough already.

"Don't worry about it, we'll take care of them." Shane said with a nod. They disappeared in their streaks. Dustin and Hunter jogged back to Storm Chargers which was not too far away. They didn't speak as they were both tired.

"Are you two alright? Where's Blake?" Kelly asked, worried, noticing the state Hunter and Dustin were in. They looked tired, as if they had just run 10 miles.

"Blake is sick. We're fine. Sorry for running of like that." Hunter apologized. He took his place behind the counter while Dustin returned to stocking the shelves.

Kelly raised an eyebrow. They had been gone for an hour and they looked dead tired now. Blake was apparently sick. She didn't believe it. There was more going on, she knew that much. She knew they would never tell her though and perhaps she didn't want them to.

Hunter rested his chin on his hand and stared unseeingly out over the shop. He still had not been able to think of what to do for a date and he felt too tired to think about it now. It was as if his brain was fried and he felt like a pudding which he realized was a weird comparison but he did. He felt muscle less, as if there was nothing holding him upright. That of course was ridiculous too because he was still standing up.

He shook it off and smiled warmly as a customer made his way over to pay. He handled it quickly and then rested his chin on his hand again.

"Guys, I've got an errand to run, I'll be back in fifteen minutes," Kelly said, going in the back and coming back out with her bag.

"Sure, Kel," Hunter said. She was probably of to the bank.

Dustin came to stand beside him, sitting up on the counter and facing him. "I didn't feel this tired right after the battle," he mumbled.

"Yeah, guess the adrenaline has worn off," Hunter said, running a hand over his face. He needed a shower and sleep.

"I just hope Cam and Blake are okay. They literally got their energy drained."

"They'll be fine, they're both strong." Hunter said soothingly although he could not help feeling worried about his little brother. He hated it to see Blake in pain, sometimes he hated it that Blake was a ranger too. He couldn't handle losing Blake too. He'd already lost his parents. Blake was his only family.

"Yeah, they are," Dustin agreed. He closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, they were sparkling.

"Have you thought about our date yet?"

Hunter smiled, "I have an idea."

"Good," Dustin said beaming at him. "Let me know in time." He jumped back of the counter and returned to work.

The day seemed to last forever but by the end of the tiring working day, Hunter at least knew what they could do for a date and where so that they wouldn't be seen. Now it was just a matter of arranging stuff and getting everything sorted. They should be able to go on their date in two days, which was a Saturday. That was excellent. There was no work and no training on Sunday. Lothor usually took his off day then too so they could stay up late of they wanted to and sleep in the next morning when needed. He told Dustin he'd pick him up at 

seven pm on Saturday night. Dustin agreed happily. Hunter had the feeling this date would go great. He was still smiling when he finally got under the hot sprays of the shower.

_Author's note: The next chapter, the date. That should take an entire chapter so get ready for some cuteness and fluff Let's just hope nothing goes wrong …_


	4. Date

**Disclaimer:** Yep, I own them! … In my dreams!

**Author's note:** Sorry for the delay but this chapter caused me more trouble than I thought it would and I've been busy. My exams have started too today so I don't know when the next update will be. Hopefully soon! Enjoy!

**Love is in the air  
Date**

Hunter put the basket with the last of the stuff in his car. He hadn't even had to try to sneak it out. Blake was out with Tori. It wasn't a date, as Blake kept reminding him but Hunter had the feeling it most definitely was even if they both continued to deny it. It made him smile. It would be great if Blake would get together with Tori while Hunter got together with Dustin. He realized he shouldn't get ahead of himself just yet but he couldn't help it. He couldn't think of anything else than Dustin telling him it would work between them. Perhaps it was foolish, perhaps he just set himself up to be hurt but he was feeling awfully optimistic. He was most definitely in love and hoping for a happy ending.

He checked his watch. Right on schedule. He grinned, closed the trunk and got in the car. He checked his hair in the rearview mirror. It looked good. It was a bit messy but that worked for him. He whistled and pulled out of his parking spot. He'd decided to wear his favorite crimson shirt with the black dragon on it and a blue jeans that didn't have holes in it.

He pulled up outside of Dustin's house at two minutes to seven. Dustin was already waiting outside and beamed upon seeing him. He was wearing a pair of jeans that accentuated all the right places and a white shirt with yellow lines all over it. Dustin never went anywhere without wearing at least something with yellow in it. Same for him and crimson. It was funny.

Dustin jumped in the car with a kind of nervous smile on his face.

"Hi." Dustin greeted.

"Hi," Hunter answered, smiling, "Ready for the surprise date?"

"I'm curious as to what you came up with, dude."

"Don't expect too much though," Hunter said as he started the car and drove off.

"Don't sell yourself short, man. It'll be fun. Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Hunter said, shooting another smile over at an increasingly nervous looking Dustin.

They reached their destination quickly enough. It was a deserted patch of beach right outside of Blue Bay Harbor. On the left side, the side that was next to Blue Bay Harbor Beach, were some dunes, effectively closing off the beach. On the other side, a forest started. No one ever came this far, no one really knew about it. Hunter had learned that not too long after arriving in the town. He'd come here often to think. Sometimes during the day there were some people but at hours like this, it was always deserted. It was perfect. He parked his car on the grass. He took the picnic basket from the trunk while Dustin admired the views. This part of the beach was really unspoiled.

"How did you find this place? I'm sure even Tori doesn't know about this," Dustin said with a smile. He seemed more at ease now, perhaps because Hunter had found a good spot where they wouldn't run into people.

"I was exploring the area, came upon this and made it my thinking place."

"Brooding place, you mean." Dustin teased.

Hunter lightly hit his shoulder and glared playfully. He lead the way onto the beach. He spread out a blanket on the still slightly warm sand and put the basket in the middle. He made another quick trip to the car and came back with a CD player and his CD's. For which purposes, he didn't know yet. But the CD's he'd brought would give them something to talk about. He smiled proudly at his own cleverness. When he got back, Dustin was already sitting on the blanket. His shoes with his socks in them stood beside him and he was burying his feet in the sand. Hunter couldn't help but laugh and sat down next to his friend.

"You definitely are the earth ninja."

Dustin smiled and freed his feet, shaking the sand off. "Got to live up to my role." He threw a curious and hungry glance at the basket which just made Hunter smile again. When there was food involved, Dustin was unstoppable.

"If you're expecting real food, you can stop hoping now. I've brought a big an selection of our favorite desserts and snacks."

"In other words, completely unhealthy food."

"Exactly!"

"I can live with that," Dustin replied laughing.

Hunter reached behind him and grabbed the basket, pulling it closer to them. "I have brownies, chocolate and blueberry muffins, strawberry pie, cheese sandwiches … Oh, and two apples and strawberries. Just so we have some fruit. And for drinks, I have coke!"

Dustin laughed and shook his head but he clearly seemed to like the idea of all the desserts and snacks. "Did you bring whipped cream?"

"Of course!"

"Very good!" Dustin smiled again and took a can of coke from Hunter, "By the way, there are a lot of _other _things you can do with whipped cream and strawberries."

Hunter nearly choked on his drink. That had not just come from Dustin. There was no way in hell. Dustin was too … too innocent for it. But the fact that Dustin's eyes were sparkling told him his friend was perhaps not that innocent.

Dustin liked the idea that he'd nearly made the much more mature Hunter choke on his drink and that he'd rendered him speechless. He hadn't really meant to say it but it had come out and now he was glad he had said it. He took a sip from his coke, still smiling. He'd been looking forward to this all day, he'd been bouncing around the house as soon as he'd gotten home from work. In the past couple of days, he'd also had some time to think about it and he was pretty sure things could work out between them but he was not going to inform Hunter of that just yet. It also didn't mean he was any less nervous for this date. He was curious as to 

what else Hunter had planned or what he would do. It was perhaps a bit mean to leave Hunter wondering but he wanted to see him try.

"So, how about some strawberries?" Dustin asked innocently.

Hunter shook his head and grabbed the strawberries he'd brought. Five minutes later, they were gone. Dustin was a pretty damn fast eater when he wanted to be.

"Now, that was good!" Dustin said enthusiastically. "What's next?"

Hunter laughed and shook his head. "You don't want to eat too much stuff at once. You're going to regret it later."

"I think I can manage."

They each took a chocolate muffin.

"Did you know Tori and Blake are going out tonight too?" Hunter asked conversationally.

"They are? Whoa, dude, I didn't know! That's awesome! Tori must be thrilled!"

"Blake says it's not a date though."

Dustin rolled his eyes. "Of course it isn't. Just like this isn't a date."

Hunter laughed, "Exactly what I thought about the entire thing."

Dustin smiled and took another bite, savoring the chocolaty taste. Hunter struck up a conversation about motocross. It proved to have been a good idea when Dustin started talking excitedly about changes he wanted to make to his bike to make it go faster. The conversation evolved from there and soon they were chatting about anything that came to mind and flirting a lot while eating more of the delicious foods Hunter had brought. The sun set but they hardly noticed. They were too focused on their conversation and each other.

Dustin finished a brownie and looked up at the sky. He blinked suddenly.

"Dude, when did it get so dark?"

Hunter looked up too. It was a perfect night. The moon and stars were clearly visible. Once more it hit him how big the universe was and how small they were, how insignificant and short one human life was in the bigger picture. It made him swallow. When he shared his thoughts with the other ranger, a new conversation started, a more philosophical and deeper one.

"Yeah, man, we live for like 80 years which is like nothing more than the blink of an eye for the universe." Dustin said, staring up thoughtfully.

"Do you ever wonder if there's something else out there? Besides Lothor and his goons?"

"Like what? Real aliens?" Dustin said, grinning over at him.

Hunter shrugged. "Why not? Life managed to start on this planet and evolve to what we are now and adjusted to our environment."

Dustin nodded. "I suppose it might. It would be cool that if somewhere out there other people or aliens are also watching the stars, wondering what else is out there."

"It's hard to imagine."

"Yeah, it is. But there are so many things we don't know yet about our universe. It could be possible."

"You're right." Hunter said, "I've always found it weird as well that those stars might not even exist anymore now but that its light is still on its way here."

"Yeah, those stars are already in the past if you think about it," Dustin shook his head, "This is getting kind of confusing though."

Hunter laughed, "It is a bit confusing."

They sat staring up at the starts a little longer, each lost in thought. Hunter had never felt closer to Dustin than in this very moment. Something had definitely changed between them for the better. He could just feel it wouldn't stay with one date. He slid closer to Dustin and laid an arm around his shoulder. Dustin didn't hesitate and leaned into him. A huge smile broke out across Hunter's face. Dustin didn't notice though as his attention had now shifted to the seemingly black sea.

"For the record, I knew it could work between us before coming on this date." Dustin spoke suddenly.

"You did? So you had me worrying for nothing?"

"Hey, couldn't make it too easy for you, could I?" Dustin said , smiling up brightly at him.

Hunter shook his head but couldn't help a smile from breaking out. "You're evil, you know that? Evil!"

"Being good the entire time gets so boring, dude." Dustin said with a wave of his hand.

Hunter snickered.

Silence descended upon them again but it was in no way awkward. It just felt good to be sitting here with Dustin like this, actually on a date. This couldn't go any better. He didn't want to pull away but he hadn't brought his music with him for nothing. He got up and could feel Dustin's questioning stare on his back. He rummaged briefly through his CD's and found the one he needed. It was a CD filled with sappy love songs and songs ideal for slow dancing. He couldn't even remember where he'd gotten it from or why he'd bought it in the first place but he was glad he had it. He put on the first song. He didn't know what it was but he didn't care.

Soft music filled the night. Hunter offered his hand to Dustin who immediately took it and let himself be pulled up in Hunter's strong arms. Dustin's arms slid around his neck while Hunter wrapped his around Dustin's waist. Dustin rested his head against his chest. Hunter had never been more happy now that the boy he loved was here in his arms.

Dustin could feel Hunter's heart beating and it was soothing. This night was perfect and quite frankly, he didn't want it to end. He could stay in Hunter's arms forever, swaying to the music. He felt safe, protected. At this moment, nothing else but them mattered. Hunter was the only thing on his mind.

The song ended and a second one started. Hunter tightened his hold lightly. Dustin looked up, staring directly into Hunter's eyes. His gaze dropped to Hunter's slightly parted lips and before he could contain himself, he leaned in. Their lips met for a soft kiss. His eyes fluttered closed. The only thing he was aware of were Hunter's lips moving against his own. Everything else seemed to have vanished. When Hunter pulled away, a huge, silly smile crossed Dustin's face. He'd never felt more happy.

He rested his head against Hunter's chest again, biting his lip to stop the smile but it was of no use.

When the second song was over, they laid down on their backs, staring up at the sky. Dustin let his head rest against Hunter's chest again and Hunter immediately placed an arm around him. In the background, the soft music still played. The sound of the sea could be heard too. It was all very soothing and Dustin closed his eyes, fully intending on just closing them for a second. He felt the strong pull of sleep and decided not to fight it. He was so comfortable too. Hunter would wake him.

Hunter heard Dustin's breathing even out and smiled. This night had gone even better than anticipated. He lazily ran his hand up and down Dustin's upper arm and placed his other arm under his head. He just stared upwards, just thinking. He wasn't even aware of falling asleep.

When the first rays of sunlight hit Dustin's face, he stirred and woke up. He sat up and blinked. It took him several seconds to realize they were still on the beach. Hunter was snoring lightly and still very much asleep.

He had to really hold back a giggle. They'd fallen asleep here. They'd slept together on their first date. At least in one sense of the sentence. Too bad he didn't want to tell their friends yet. They would throw a fit if he told them that, of course thinking they'd had sex. This time he did giggle. He quickly pressed a hand to his mouth to smother the sound a bit. He felt giddy and way too hyper for this hour of the morning. He was anything but a morning person.

When he had himself under control again, he pressed a kiss on Hunter's lips. It was enough to wake the Thunder Ninja up.

"Morning, sleepy head."

"Hmm?" Hunter asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. When his eyes were focused on the surroundings, they widened, "Shit, we fell asleep."

"It would seem so," Dustin laughed and reached in the basked. "Cheese sandwich?"

Hunter took the one Dustin offered and took a bite.

"Good thing you packed too much, dude," Dustin's sandwich was gone in less than thirty seconds.

Hunter shook his head. "That fast eating of yours is going to get you in trouble one day. Eating too fast is not good for your stomach."

"Sorry, mom." Dustin replied with a slight roll of his eyes.

"I hope Blake didn't get worried that I didn't get back."

"Perhaps he didn't go back to the apartment either." Dustin remarked.

"I highly doubt that. But who knows? Anything's possible."

"Definitely," Dustin agreed. He'd never thought he'd end up a superhero trying to save the world and yet he was. It still amazed him. He had to try to save the world. He could barely take care of himself! Half the time he didn't even know what he was doing. Luckily, his friends had a better of idea what they had to do or at least pretended. Being a ranger was hard on all of them. Most of the time, they were just thrown out there, fighting not only for their lives but also for the lives of many other people. It was a huge responsibility and Dustin often doubted if he was the right person for the job. He'd never shared any of this with his friends. He knew what they would say but that wouldn't help him any.

Half an hour later, they'd packed up their stuff and were driving back, chatting about everything and nothing. Hunter dropped Dustin off first and drove home.

"Bro, where the hell were you?" Blake asked as soon as he entered.

"Out with Dustin. We fell asleep on the beach." Hunter said honestly. "You were gone so I figured I could hang out with Dustin," he added.

"I was worried!"

"How was your date with Tori?"

"It was amazing! We had so much fun …"

Hunter listened to his brother ramble on about how much fun it had been and how it had been the prefect night. Hunter smiled happily. He was happy for himself and for Blake.

_Author's note:_ _Wow, imagine that! Nothing bad happened. Those who are familiar with my stories know something always happens, hahaha. Well, not this time! Let me know what you think!_


	5. Ghost from the past

**Disclaimer:** Nope, I still don't own them.

**Author's note:** I got a great idea for this story! But because of it, I had to slightly change my first chapter. In it, I said Hunter has never had a boyfriend before. Forget you ever read that, lol. Thanks for the lovely reviews!

**Love is in the air  
Ghost from the past**

"Morning, guys," Cam greeted, smiling at five very irritated looking rangers. "Ready for training?"

"Cam, it's Sunday… Sunday! That means we get a day off." Shane said, glaring. He was surprised that he had even bothered to get up and come here. He had seriously considered not to but then decided he didn't want Cam bursting in his bedroom and dragging him out of bed. He didn't doubt Cam would … or he'd just teleport him here in his underwear. That wasn't an option either. So he'd gotten up, albeit very reluctantly.

"Evil doesn't rest either." Cam pointed out, smiling pleasantly.

"Yes, it does. When is the last time Lothor attacked on a Sunday?" Blake asked.

Silence greeted the question.

"Exactly!" Blake said smugly. Hunter patted him on the back and muttered a 'good one, bro' which got him a glare from the now irritated looking Samurai Ranger.

"So you're all just planning on wasting your Sunday and doing nothing?"

"Yes!" Was the simultaneous answer.

"That's what Sundays are for, dude," Dustin pointed out. "It's called relaxing, you should try it sometime. Does wonders for one's mood."

"My mood is just fine, thanks and I do not have the time to relax, I have work to do." Cam said, crossing his arms and glaring at the rangers.

"Cam, son, I think it would be wise for you to take the day off and go … chill," Dustin had to restrain his laughter upon hearing Sensei say that, "with your friends. Teambuilding is excellent training too." Sensei spoke up, jumping on the computer table.

"Come on, Cam. Come with us for once." Tori pleaded.

Cam sighed and shook his head. "What are you guys going to do?"

"We were thinking of going to the beach."

"Now there's a surprise." Cam muttered under his breath. "Fine. I'll come with you but tomorrow, we're going to train like we've never trained before."

"Don't we always train like we've never trained before?" Blake said with a grin.

Cam thought about it for a second. "No, definitely not. I'll go get my stuff."

Thirty minutes later, they were on the beach and Cam was already seriously regretting that he had agreed to come. Tori was begging him to teach him how to surf. He didn't want to!

"It'll be fun!"

"No, definitely not!" Cam said determinedly. A minute later, he was in the cold water learning the basics of surfing. It was the only way he could get her to stop whining about it. Perhaps if he hit his head on something, she would be convinced that it was not a good idea. While paddling, he studied the ocean floor. There wasn't anything sharp for him to hit his head on. Great. He just continued doing what Tori instructed him.

"I can't believe she talked him into that," Dustin said, leaning back on his towel and watching Cam attempting to stand up on the board.

"Me neither. I tried to get him on a skateboard once. He flat out refused." Shane shook his head.

"He seems to be enjoying it though," Hunter said. For the first time that day, they saw Cam smile, just before he fell of the board and went under. He resurfaced, laughing.

"He's finally relaxing," Blake chimed in.

"About time _we_ taught _him_ something." Shane said, grinning. The other three boys nodded their agreement.

Hunter had to restrain himself from kissing Dustin. It was so very tempting with Dustin being so close to him and shirtless. It was very hard to not keep staring at Dustin either. He sincerely hoped Dustin didn't want to keep this a secret for too long because this was torture. His eyes found Dustin's again and Dustin gave him the goofy smile Hunter loved so much.

"I think I'm going to go for a walk." Dustin said subtly.

"Oh! Yeah, me too. Need to stretch my legs." Hunter answered quickly.

Much to his joy, Shane and Blake decided to stay behind and watch how things progressed in the water. They apparently found it very fascinating to watch Cam surf. Cam could actually stay upright for a couple of seconds now. Tori was continuously cheering him on and giving pointers.

The two boys walked away from their friends and over to the dunes.

"Again, thanks for last night. I really enjoyed myself." Dustin said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, me too."

"What did Blake say about you not coming home?"

"I changed the subject to Tori and he forgot all about questioning me about my whereabouts." Hunter said with a smirk.

"Sneaky. My parents were a bit angry that I hadn't let them known but I told them we'd stayed over at Cam's and then they didn't mind so much. All that talk about Cam being very responsible and mature has really helped. They trust him."

"What? They don't trust me?" Hunter asked, faking hurt.

"Do you want an honest answer to that question?" Dustin asked jokingly. Hunter playfully smacked his shoulder and then glanced around. They were out of sight now, hidden between the dunes. Hunter wrapped his arms around Dustin and pulled him closer. Dustin's arms slid around Hunter's neck.

"You know, I still haven't gotten a good morning kiss," Hunter said.

"Well, let's change that then," Dustin replied with a smile. Their lips met and both lost themselves in the sweet kiss.

When the kiss was over, they sat down on the sand. Dustin subconsciously licked his lips. "I could get used to this,"

"Yeah, me too," Hunter agreed, sighing happily and laying down on the sand. He pulled Dustin down next to him.

"Hey, Hunter, can I ask you something?" Dustin asked and continued when Hunter nodded. "Have you ever had a boyfriend before?"

"Yes, I have." Hunter replied shortly. There was something in Hunter's eyes that Dustin couldn't quite identify. It was something between anger and hurt although it seemed to go much deeper than that. Dustin had the feeling that relationship hadn't gone very well but it was obvious Hunter had cared very much for the other boy. He decided to drop the subject. He didn't want Hunter to have to relive bad memories although that might already be too late. He couldn't help being curious about what had happened between them but Hunter would tell him in his own time.

"How do you think our friends will react to us?" he asked next as the thought popped up into his head.

"They'll accept it. They'll have to." Hunter replied.

"Yeah. I don't want to tell them yet though."

"I know, it's okay. I understand." Hunter said, pressing a kiss on Dustin's forehead.

Cam got out of the water, laughing. "What did you think, guys?"

"You looked great out there, Cam!" Shane said, smirking as he tossed Cam his towel. Cam easily caught it and used it to dry himself up.

"At least when you managed to stand up on the board." Blake added, smiling.

"Well, Blake, I'd like to see you try it." Tori said challengingly.

Blake held up his hands in surrender. "No thanks, last time I tried it, I was sore for a week!"

"He kept hitting the board when he fell." Tori said to the two other rangers. Shane laughed.

"Where did Hunter and Dustin go?" Cam asked before he spread out his towel on the sand and sat on it.

"Off for a walk, had to stretch their legs." Shane replied distantly with a wave of his hand in the general direction that his two friends had gone into. The source of Shane's distraction became clear when two very attractive brunettes walked past them, seductively swinging their hips. They were not blind to the male attention either. They shot everyone that they caught looking at them a brilliant smile. Tori rolled her eyes and sat down beside Blake.

"Excuse me, guys. I've got to go stretch my legs as well." Shane said, smiling and before they knew it, he was walking between the girls.

"Boys!" Tori said with an aggravated sigh.

"They were pretty cute, Tor." Blake said but his eyes remained firmly fixed on the blonde next to him. Tori didn't even dignify the comment with a reply, something Cam was proud of. Blake was only trying to bait the Blue Ranger and make her jealous.

Dustin sighed. "We should probably head back before they assume we've been kidnapped by Lothor." He attempted to stand up but was pulled back down. He fell half on top of the Thunder ranger. Dustin smiled and moved around so that he was straddling his boyfriend.

"Perhaps a few more minutes won't hurt," Dustin said. He placed his hands in the sand by Hunter's head and leaned down to kiss him. The kiss soon turned heated, more heated than before. Hunter's hands were running over his back before sliding into his hair. Dustin opened his mouth under the pressure of Hunter's tongue. Hunter thoroughly explored his mouth. Dustin let out a little moan. He could feel a tingling sensation start in his stomach. At the same time, certain parts of his body were responding. His body screamed at him to continue the kiss but his mind was racing. He broke the kiss. Hunter sighed disappointed and stared up at him, lust clear in his eyes. Dustin was completely out of breath.

"We, um, better go back," he said. He could feel his face flame and didn't understand why. They weren't doing anything wrong. He got to his feet quickly.

He missed Hunter's worried and slightly confused look. Hunter quickly got up and before Dustin could start walking, took his arm and pulled him back.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just … When you kissed me, I felt really turned on."

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?" Hunter asked with a smile.

"I suppose. It's just … new." Dustin replied with a shrug. Hunter nodded his understanding. He pressed a quick kiss to Dustin's lips and then started walking back. Dustin remained quiet so Hunter just looked around. There were a lot of families: parents with their kids who were building sandcastles, burying their parents in the sand and generally making a lot of noise. It made Hunter smile. One day, he wanted children too. He didn't know if it would ever be possible but he'd keep hoping.

His eyes travelled further and slid over a brown haired male that looked a little too familiar. His heart started racing and he could feel all the blood drain from his face. No, he had to be imagining things. A couple of steps further, he got a better look. He wasn't imagining it. The man's eyes found his and a smile broke out across his face. It wasn't a nice smile though. There was something dangerous about it, something threatening. Hunter swallowed hard and averted his eyes. Not now, just not now. He couldn't deal with this. Not now he'd gotten his life back on track.

"Hunter, you okay?" Dustin asked, noticing how unusually pale Hunter looked and how his fists had clenched by his side.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hunter replied and forced himself to relax. He'd tell Blake, then they'd see. Perhaps the man was accidentally here. Hunter didn't believe it. He'd searched him and found him.

They rejoined the rangers.

"Good walk?" Cam asked with a smile that made Dustin feel very uncomfortable.

"Yeah, it was good. Where's Shane?"

"Off with Long Legs 1 and Long Legs 2." Tori replied.

Dustin laughed, "That is so typical. He cannot go to the beach without at least hitting on one girl." He fondly shook his head and laid back on his towel. He closed his eyes. He might as well enjoy the sun while he could. It was nice and warm too.

"Hey bro, you okay?" Blake asked, noticing how Hunter had been staring off into the distance and shooting glances to the side ever so often.

"I'm fine," Hunter replied with a smile. The expression in his eyes told Blake he would hear it later. Blake nodded but felt immediately worried. Hunter was very good at keeping his emotions in but there was something in his eyes that betrayed fear. What had happened?

They stayed on the beach for the rest of the day, switching between going for a swim and laying on their towels, just relaxing. Hunter had managed to act cheerful for the most part and no one had seen his distress for which he was thankful. Shane returned to them about an hour after he'd left with two phone numbers. It earned him a high five from the boys and a shake of the head from Tori. Blake and Tori had been obviously flirting with each other, even more than usual which made Dustin believe the date had really gone well and they were close to getting together. It wouldn't take long now. He was glad for his friends.

Around six, they went for pizza and afterwards, they all returned home but not after having Cam admit that the day out had been fun and that they should do it more often. Cam had agreed to it which got him cheers from his fellow rangers which made Cam smile. Perhaps for the first time in his life he felt really accepted into a group and he felt like he really had friends now. He did need to get out with them more and what was even stranger, he actually wanted to.

Hunter and Blake drove home in silence. Hunter didn't say anything so Blake didn't either. Over the day, his worry had grown considerably. Once in their apartment, they sat down on the couch. Blake let Hunter break the silence.

"He's back."

"Who?" Blake asked confused.

"Ben, I saw him on the beach. He found me." Hunter said, sinking back on the couch and rubbing his hands over his face. He wasn't ready for his past to come haunt him now, it was still too fresh.

Blake's anger immediately flared. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would've gone over and kicked his butt!" _Or rather kill him_.

"I didn't want the others to know something's wrong. We haven't even talked about it since then and I don't think I can tell them yet."

Blake moved closer to his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I get that, bro but if he really has found you, then he's here for a reason. One that I don't like. In that case the others need to know about him."

"I know. Look, we'll just wait and see, okay? At least for a couple of days. Don't say anything, please." Hunter said pleadingly. Blake reluctantly agreed but he didn't like the situation one bit.

_Author's note: Well, it couldn't stay peaceful now, could it? Who is Ben? What did he do? Find out in the next chapter! In the meanwhile, review. You may guess, hahaha._


	6. Explanation

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine!

**Author's note:** This chapter is more of an explanation chapter than anything else. More action in the next chapter! Thanks for the reviews! They make my day!

**Love is in the air  
Explanations**

It was a couple of days later and Hunter hadn't seen Ben anymore. Perhaps he had been seeing ghosts on the beach or perhaps it had just been someone who looked a lot like Ben. Either way, his life was returning to normal and he was able to relax again. Over the past few days, he'd been incredibly tense which the other rangers picked up on fairly easily. He hadn't told them anything and he'd ignored the looks of disapproval from his brother. Because Ben had taken up a lot of his thinking the past couple of days, he hadn't been spending as much time with Dustin as he would have liked to. He did have the feeling he might have hurt Dustin a little bit. He hadn't exactly been actively participating in any of the conversations or their kissing. He decided it was time for some damage control.

"Hey, Dustin, Kel said it was okay if we took our lunch break now. Want to go grab a bite to eat together?"

Dustin eyed him suspiciously. "Are you done dealing with whatever the hell it was you were dealing with?"

"Yes."

Dustin's face lit up. "In that case, I'd love to go for lunch together. Would it be a waste of time if I asked you about it?"

"Most likely," Hunter with a small smile as they walked out of the store.

Dustin nodded and abruptly changed the subject. He'd been really worried about Hunter the past couple of days. Hunter hadn't said anything and when he'd asked Blake, he'd told him to ask Hunter. Blake obviously knew what was going on but had refused to tell Dustin which had frustrated him slightly. He understood though. Blake had an obligation to his brother. It did also hurt a bit because it proved Hunter didn't completely trust him yet, even though they had been friends for a quite a while and that they had been exploring a new path.

They were half way through lunch when Hunter felt as if they were being watched. His relaxed mood evaporated at once, leaving a feeling of growing unease in its wake. He was pretty sure he wasn't imagining things. Perhaps Ben had been purposely laying low the last couple of days. He could've been spying on him. Ben was a Thunder Ninja, a graduated one. He'd been top of his class, best Ninja anyone had seen in a long time. That had at first attracted Hunter to the other man but later it had scared him.

"Earth to Hunter. Dude, what's up?" Dustin asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"I just remembered I got something to do." He quickly stood up and tossed enough money on the table to cover both their lunches. "I'll see you at the store, okay?" With that he was off.

Dustin called after Hunter but it was no use. He let out a frustrated sigh. What the hell was going on? He finished his drink and after the waiter picked up the money, left and headed back to Storm Chargers. He needed to talk to Blake.

Hunter found an abandoned alley and waited, glancing around nervously. Either he was imagining things and it was nothing or Ben had been spying on him in which case he'd be here any second.

He could hear someone streaking before Ben appeared. Hunter crossed his arms, tried not to look scared but he couldn't stop his heart from beating wildly and sweat from breaking out. Last thing he wanted was to be alone with Ben but it was the only way he could find out why he was here.

"Hunter, it's been too long!" Ben said, taking a cautious step forward. Hunter took one backwards.

"Not long enough obviously. What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Tracking a Ninja is easy enough. I was always best at that, wasn't I? As for why I'm here, I wanted to see you. I've changed, okay? I'm here to prove that I have changed."

Hunter couldn't help but snort. "Right. And I'm supposed to believe that? You said you'd never hit me again after the first time you hit me! A couple of weeks later, you beat me half to death!" He exclaimed. Memories unwillingly surfaced. He remember the first time Ben had hit him. They'd been together for about a month. They'd gotten into a stupid argument and suddenly Ben had lashed out. It had shocked Hunter into silence. Ben had gotten a regretful look on his face, had promised him it would never happen again but it kept happening. Hunter had been foolish enough to believe it would end one day. It had nearly ended one day, he'd nearly been dead. That was a little before Ben graduated the Thunder Ninja Academy and left. Hunter hadn't seen him since until now but he'd been dealing with it for a long time and he still wasn't over it if he was honest with himself. There were still scars, both physical ones and emotional ones.

"I know! I've learned to control myself. Just give me a chance to prove it." Ben pleaded.

"I've given you enough chances, Ben. Now get lost, I don't want you in my life." Hunter said determinedly. He walked past Ben almost afraid that Ben would stop him but he didn't. Hunter checked his watch. He still had some time before he needed to start working. He needed to clear his head.

Dustin didn't waste any time in asking Blake. "What's going on with Hunter?"

"Dustin-"

"We were out having lunch, next thing I know he gets this strange look on his face, he looks around and storms off."

Blake's expression changed. "Stormed off? Just like that? Did you see where he was going? Did someone follow him?"

"No, not that I saw. Blake, what's going on?" Dustin asked, worry clear in his voice.

"I need to talk to you guys at Ninja Ops later. Warn the others, 7 pm. Don't tell Hunter about it! Right now, I've got to find him." Blake said quickly before he was off.

Dustin frowned but let the other rangers now.

"Ah, Dustin, you're back already. Where's Blake?" Kelly asked, coming to stand next to him.

"Looking for Hunter. Something's going on here, Kel but I don't know what."

The first place Blake checked was their apartment. He hadn't exactly expected to find Hunter there but he was. Hunter started speaking as soon as he noticed him. "He says he's changed. He says he wants another chance."

"You talked to him? Hunter, what were you thinking? That guy is dangerous!" Blake exclaimed.

"I know! But he was spying on Dustin and me. I figured I might as well talk to him, tell him to get lost."

"As if that's going to work! Hunter, this is crazy! You have to tell the others." Blake said.

"If he really has changed, he'll get lost."

"No, if he really has changed, he'll do his best to prove it. You know he won't leave! You know he hasn't changed!" Blake almost yelled. Why was his brother being so stubborn on this? Why couldn't he just tell their friends? They'd help. Hunter repeated once more he didn't want to let the others in on this yet. Blake nodded. He'd have to tell them himself. He wasn't too keen on leaving Hunter alone that night but their friends needed to know the story. Since Hunter wasn't sharing, it was up to Blake to tell. Hunter would be furious with him but he needed the others to keep an eye open for Ben as well, for Hunter's safety and their own. Blake had seen what Ben was capable of and he didn't want any of them getting hurt.

They returned to work shortly after. The rest of the day crept by. Blake made an excuse, warned Hunter to stay inside and told him to reach him on his morphers when Ben showed up and then went to Ninja Ops. The others were waiting.

"Blake, what's going on?" Shane asked.

"You better sit down. This will be a long story. I need you guys to keep an open mind okay?"

They nodded.

"Someone from Hunter's past has returned. His ex-boyfriend." Blake expected gasps and shocked expressions. He wasn't wrong. They nodded for him to continue.

"He's also a Thunder Ninja. That's how they met. Ben is two years older, he was in his final year. Ben was … is a great fighter, unlike anything anyone had seen before. He and Hunter fell in love." He decided to skip the part where he'd been shocked and had a fight with Hunter about it. "They were happy together, at least I thought. After about a month, Hunter came home with a black eye, said he and Ben had been sparing. He started coming home with injuries more often, it was always from sparing. I believed him. Why wouldn't I? Why couldn't Hunter be training with the best Ninja there was? But over time, Hunter started to change. You might find it hard to believe but he used to be pretty carefree, pretty open about everything. After a while, he changed. Became more quiet, didn't talk to me a lot. He was just brooding a lot. I couldn't get him to talk to me. I started suspecting something was wrong."

From the expression of horror and anger on their faces, Blake could tell they knew where his story was headed.

"Then one day, I came in the room we shared and found him crying. I hadn't supposed to be there, I had lessons but I'd forgotten something. Good thing I did. Of course I wanted to know what was going on and he told me. His defenses finally crumbled. He told me the injuries had not been from sparing and that had Ben had basically been beating him. I told him to break it off but Hunter refused." Blake sighed as it all came back. Him begging and pleading with Hunter to break up with Ben. Hunter telling him that he loved Ben and that Ben loved him. That Ben was going to change.

"I confronted Ben about it. Turned out to be a very stupid move. When Hunter found about it, he yelled and screamed at me. He took his stuff and crashed at Ben's room." Blake shook his head, a guilty expression appearing on his face.

"Hunter didn't talk to me for days. I could see he was in pain, not necessarily physical pain but he still didn't end things. Later he told me Ben had threatened him. If he broke it off, Ben would come after me. Hunter couldn't leave. He hated Ben but at he same time, he still loved him. Then one day, two weeks after I'd last spoken to Hunter, I find him outside my room." Blake swallowed and had to take a few deep breaths before he could continue.

"He was barely breathing, he was covered in bruises. He was still conscious. I brought him to the sick bay of the academy. He told me not to tell Ben had done that to him because if someone found out, he'd get even. I feared for Hunter's life and to be honest, my own too so I just said I'd found him like that. Hunter said he didn't remember what had happened. Ben graduated and he left. Hunter was really broken up about it. Even after everything he still loved him, deeply. It took him really long to get over it. We never talked about it either. When I tired to, he shut down so I tried to forget about it. Since Ben, he's been this completely different person, he hardly trusts people and I can't blame him."

The rangers sat in a stunned silence, trying to process what they had just heard.

"Why didn't Hunter fight back? Why did he let him?" Shane asked.

"Ben wasn't just any guy. If Hunter fought back, his injuries would have been ten times worse."

"This Ben guy, he was at the beach, wasn't he? Hunter saw him there." Dustin exclaimed, remembering how Hunter had gone pale. "He was there this afternoon when we had lunch."

Blake nodded. "Hunter confronted him. Ben told him he'd changed and that he wanted a second chance. Hunter told him to get lost but I know Ben. He isn't going anywhere."

Dustin was pretty much boiling inside. If he ever came face-to-face with Ben, he'd beat the crap of him. Ben might be the best Thunder Ninja there was but he had a couple of tricks up his sleeve and he was a ranger.

"Do you know where to find this guy?" Shane asked, getting to his feet. Blake had never before seen such an expression of fury on the red ranger's face and he was almost glad that he had no idea where Ben was.

"I don't know but we're going to have to keep our eyes open for this guy." He gave them a quick description of what Ben looked like and said he'd try to find a picture. A description wasn't that much to go on. "And we're going to have to keep an eye on Hunter."

The rangers nodded. "We will." Tori promised, "He's not going to hurt Hunter again, he'll have to go through us first."

Blake nodded and managed a smile. "I better get back. Remember, not a word to Hunter about this. He'll kill me for telling you this but you had to know."

The rangers said their goodbyes and Blake headed home. He was relieved to find Hunter just watching tv.

"Did you get done what you had to do?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah." Blake said, forcing a smile. Luckily for him, Hunter didn't question him. He sat down next to his brother, feeling more than a little guilty for telling their friends even though Hunter didn't want to. He felt like it was the right decision though. They needed to keep an eye on Hunter and Ben. Blake wasn't about to let Hunter deal with this on his own, not again.

_Author's note: Let's hope Hunter doesn't find out about Blake telling the others. I get the feeling it just might be nasty if he does!_


	7. Finding out

**Disclaimer:** It may come as a shock but I don't own them.

**Author's note:** Sorry for the wait, guys. My summer job started again and it's been exhausting so when I got on the computer, my brain was fried and I just couldn't come up with something descent. Heck, I'm not pleased with half of this chapter but it's the best I'll come up with. Thanks for the reviews! I love reading them and your thoughts! Enjoy the chapter!

**Love is in the air  
Finding out**

Hunter was getting suspicious. For the past two days, he hadn't been alone once. There was always someone with him. He'd even caught Shane following him although the red ranger denied that he was doing it. Shane had said he was being paranoid and Hunter probably would've believed him if it wasn't so obvious that they didn't leave him out of their sight unless he was in the bathroom. He was pretty curious to find out what was going on and he realized his best shot would be Dustin. If he caught the earth ninja by surprise, he'd probably say what was going on before he knew he was saying it. Dustin's mouth and brain tended to not cooperate at times. That would work to his advantage. On top of him worrying about what was going on, he also feared another Lothor attack. The evil space ninja had been rather quiet lately and that was more than a little worrying. It meant that he was up to something, that or he'd lost his PAM again which with Cam's cousins on board wouldn't be too surprising.

"Blake, I'm going for lunch with Dustin. Catch you later." Hunter said before he left the apartment where he found Dustin waiting outside. He'd insisted they meet here rather than at the place where they wanted to eat and had given a pretty weird explanation for it too. That had been a pretty damn good clue for his theory that there was something they were not telling him.

"Hey," Dustin greeted with a bright smile.

"Hi." Hunter replied. They still hadn't told their friends about them which was becoming increasingly harder. They couldn't show any affection in public but with Ben around Hunter wasn't sure he wanted to. He had the sinking feeling Ben might know about them though. He would just have to make sure Ben wouldn't get to Dustin.

The boys walked in silence for a bit. Hunter didn't miss Dustin throwing casual glances around him, almost as if he was looking for something or someone.

"How's the work on your bike going?"

"Hm? Oh good, yeah, really good. I'm going to test it tomorrow. Want to join me?"

"Yeah, sure, that sounds good. Hey, Dustin, if something was going on, you would tell me right?"

Dustin frowned and laughed a little nervously. "Of course, dude."

"Good, then now would be a good time to tell me what is going on." Hunter said stopping Dustin with a hand on his arm. Dustin avoided looking at him and instead stared at a point over his shoulder, obviously thinking about what to say which only further proved that something was in fact going on.

"Dustin! You might as well say it, you know? You guys haven't left me out of your sight for even a minute! I caught Shane following me! Whatever is going on, you're all doing a crappy job at attempting to hide it!" Hunter said crossing his arms and glaring.

"Um, well … We're just worried, that's at all." Dustin replied with a small smile.

Hunter decided to play it a little differently. It was sneaky but it just might work. "I can't believe it. We're not even together properly and you're already lying to me. Are you sure you want this to work?" He watched an expression of hurt flash in Dustin's eyes before it turned to guilt.

"Hunter, man, that's not fair! Perhaps there's a good reason. You obviously don't trust me to believe there is one."

Hunter had underestimated Dustin's ability to deal with emotional blackmail and he had to sadly admit Dustin had him with that one but that in no way meant he was letting it go.

"Maybe but I still want to know."

"Well, that's too bad then. Now, do you want lunch or not?"

Hunter just nodded. They started walking again. He hadn't expected Dustin to put up such a fight about this. Why couldn't he just tell him? He'd already pretty much admitted something was going on, that they were watching him. Why was the 'why' such a big secret? Why couldn't he know about it? Perhaps he should talk to Blake. Then again, emotional blackmail was more likely to work on Shane than on his brother. He supposed he just had to wait and see what happened.

Lunch passed quickly. Hunter had decided to drop the topic and Dustin was all too glad for that. Hunter had the right to know that they knew about Ben but he'd freak out if he knew they knew. They could miss Hunter going ballistic and fight with Blake. He'd probably shut all of them out too and they could definitely miss that. Honestly, he also feared what would happen to their relationship. Hunter wouldn't like him keeping such a thing like this from him. He tried not to think about it but he made a mental note to let everyone know that Hunter knew something was up. They would have to try to keep the watching Hunter like a hawk at a low.

An opportunity to tell the others came soon enough when Cam called them over to Ninja Ops for training. Much to his joy, he was paired up with Shane.

"Hunter knows we're watching him." Dustin said as he ducked and threw a punch at Shane which the red ranger blocked easily.

"Probably, we haven't exactly been subtle." Shane replied, launching an attack that drove Dustin back.

The earth ninja smiled. "You haven't exactly been subtle." He jumped up just in time to miss Shane's leg sweet. "Are you a ninja or what?"

"Oh, shut up!" Shane muttered. They shut up after that and focused on their training, throwing kicks and punches at each other. By the end of it the rangers were tired but not overly so. They couldn't exactly get exhausted because there was always the risk of a monster attacking. They had to be ready.

After training, they sat together in the main room, meditating. Sensei had insisted they meditate once a week, saying it would be good for them. The rangers had reluctantly agreed to the whole thing. It was that or a ten mile run. They had chosen meditating.

Sensei noticed that the session didn't seem to go so well. Unlike other times, the rangers kept fidgeting and sighing, a clear sign that clearing theirs heads wasn't working. Cam had filled him in on what Blake had told him. It was obvious the rangers were very much plagued by the entire thing. They worried for their teammate and friend. Sensei had to admit that it was the first time that he had seen the team so united. The rangers were keen on keeping Hunter safe, they had a common goal and just that bond of that goal hung clearly in the air. He felt it. He didn't approve that Hunter didn't know though. He understood the rangers' motivation for keeping it quiet but they should know by now that the chances of Hunter finding out were about as big the rangers defeating the next monster that came their way. It was only a matter of time.

The rangers stood relieved when Sensei announced the session was over. There was little point in attempting to anyway. It wasn't working.

Dustin struck up a conversation with Hunter so that Shane could let the others know that Hunter knew something was up.

Hunter heaved a deep sigh which caused Dustin to stop talking mid-sentence. They really did underestimate him. While the conversation with Dustin was fascinating, it was hard not to notice the lack of activity from the other rangers. They were whispering. He noticed that even more than he would've noticed them talking at a normal level. He seriously started to doubt their ability to be good ninjas. Ninjas had to be subtle, had to go unnoticed. Something the rangers didn't seem to very good at. If anything, they were drawing more attention to themselves.

"Right, so how about you tell me what's going on? It saves you all the trouble of having to go behind my back and whisper to each other. Hey, I might even be able to help." Hunter crossed his arms. He had an expression of determination on his face which made the rangers swallow.

"Why would you-"

"Shane, I swear to god, if you finish that sentence, I'm going to kick your ass." Hunter said, rolling his eyes.

Blake knew the game was over. He might as well let his brother know he'd told them. Hunter was determined to find out and wouldn't stop before he did. He should've known his brother would know that something was up. Hunter had always been the most perceptive one of the rangers, perhaps because he was the more quiet type. He was much more tuned to the environment.

"Guys, could you give us a few minutes?" Blake asked.

"Are you sure?" Tori asked. Blake nodded. He didn't want to drag them down along with him. Damage control was the best option.

Blake waited until the rangers had left the room before walking over to his brother. "I'll be honest with you but there's a good reason why we didn't tell you what was going in the first place. Mainly because that would seriously ruin things between us." Blake said gesturing between them.

"Blake, what are you talking about? We're brothers!"

"Good, hold on to that thought... I told them about Ben and about everything that happened." Blake said calmly, figuring there was no point in putting it off any longer.

Hunter's mouth dropped open. Several expressions crossed his face but the one that remained was fury. "Blake! How could you do that? I asked you not to!"

"I know but they had every right to know. We were just trying to watch out for you."

"So that's what it was? You're all trying to look out for me? What exactly do you think I will do, Blake? Run back to Ben?"

"No, I know you wouldn't do that! I just feared Ben might do something to you! Or to one of us. He's dangerous. I was trying to protect all of us." Blake reasoned, attempting to stay calm. Him shouting too wouldn't help his case any.

Hunter shook his head. "You think I'd put the others in danger on purpose?"

"That's not what I said!" Blake shot back. His brother was starting to get unreasonable, a clear sign that he was freaking out and Hunter freaking out was never a good thing. Last thing he needed was his brother storming off to God knows where and Ben chasing him.

"It sounded like it!"

"Hunter, I'm really sorry I told them and I'm really sorry I kept this from you but could you please just try to see that I was doing what I thought was the right thing?"

"No! You should've done the right thing by me and not tell them! You should've let me handle it my way. You should've let me tell them when I was ready for it, not when you felt like you had to! You betrayed my trust, Blake. You promised you wouldn't say anything to them about it and you did."

Hunter sounded hurt now and it hurt Blake but no matter what Hunter said, he still believed he had done the right thing. Ben could not be trusted.

"I know. And all I can tell you is that I'm sorry but I did the right thing."

"If you say that one more time, I swear I'm going to hit you." Hunter shook his head and uncrossed his arms to clench and unclench his fists by his side. He was obviously going for angry again.

"Fine, if it'll make you feel better, take your best shot." Blake replied, spreading his arms in a sign of surrender. If Hunter was angry enough, he probably would but Blake wasn't worried. Hunter wouldn't hit him. To his surprise, Hunter smiled. It was a kind of crazy smile though, one that made goosebumps break out across his skin.

"You're not getting off that easy, Blake. Please tell the others to mind their own business in the future, tell them I don't need them or you! I don't need any of you to keep me safe. I can take care of myself." And with that, he streaked out.

The others were standing outside Ninja Ops, waiting worriedly. They didn't miss the crimson streak going by. Dustin chased after him at once, needing to talk to Hunter. The others went down to Blake to make sure he was okay.

Dustin had a hard time keeping up with Hunter but he managed to keep up. They ended up on the beach where they'd had their first date.

"Dustin, get out of here." Hunter spoke sounding so calm that it actually scared Dustin.

"Not going to do that, dude. Since you streaked out, I figure you're talk with Blake didn't go to well. Look, I don't know what you're thinking or feeling right now but talk to me, please." Dustin said, standing as close to Hunter as he dared and trying not to break eye contact even though Hunter was sending him the iciest glare he had ever seen. There was something else in his eyes though, betrayal. Dustin hated seeing that.

"How could you not tell me what Blake said? Did you guys seriously think I wouldn't find out about this? I mean, honestly, you weren't subtle! None of you!"

"Guess not but we're trying to protect you from this guy! He hurt you and I hate him for it. I'll kill him if I ever run into him!" Dustin spoke, turning his head to glare at the sea.

"God! Don't be an idiot, Dustin! Did Blake tell you he was a highly trained ninja? He's dangerous!" Hunter yelled. There wasn't real anger in his voice though, it was worry and desperation. He ran a hand over his face. This was exactly what he didn't want, the others thinking they needed to take revenge or even wanting to take revenge. He did not want them to come face-to-face with Ben. Not now, not ever. He was scared of what his friends would do, he was scared of what Ben would do.

"I bet I can kick his ass."

"Don't even think about it! Forget about this and let me handle it! I am not going to stand by while you get yourself hurt or hurt him!"

"You're worried about him?"

"No, I'm worried about you, all of you! What do you expect to happen when you fight it out with Ben? Either he kicks your ass and trust me when I say you don't want that or you'll kick his in which case he'll be back for a round two. And round two will get nasty. Damn it, Dustin. This is why I didn't want anyone to know. You can't win! He'll find ways of hurting you and I'm not going to stand by and watch it happen."

"Just like we're not going to stand by and watch him hurt you again!" Dustin yelled back. "I'm glad Blake told us and I'm not backing off, none of us are so deal with it!"

"I'm touched that you guys want to do that but I don't need your protection." Hunter tried.

"Perhaps you don't, man but I am not going to just watch how he hurts you again," Dustin said softly. He reached out carefully and placed his hand against the side of Hunter's face. He was relieved when his boyfriend didn't pull away and leaned into the touch.

Hunter could feel his defenses crumble under Dustin's soft touch. "I'm scared, Dustin. Scared of what he might to do me, or you. If he knows about us …" Hunter shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Hey," Dustin spoke softly, "Nothing's going to happen. We'll have each other's backs. All of us. We'll all be careful."

Hunter opened his eyes again and Dustin smiled.

"It'll be okay, dude but you've got to let us in. You don't have to go through this alone. We're here for you."

"I know you are … I guess I was also scared of what you would think of me after knowing that, after knowing what I let him do to me."

"We don't think any less of you, Hunter. You're still the same guy." Dustin moved closer and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. Hunter's arms moved around him at once, their bodies just melted together.

"Given the circumstances, I also think it might be better if we tell the others about us," Dustin said.

Hunter pulled away to look at the earth ninja. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I am. Let's go back." Dustin said, pulling back completely. Hunter nodded his agreement and followed Dustin back.

Ben watched the scene from a distance away. It was obvious Hunter cared very much about the other boy, was probably in love with him. But he remember how Hunter had loved him. He'd get that back, no matter what. Hunter would love him again, no matter the cost. It would only be a matter of time.

_Author's note:_ _I do hope you liked it! I'll try to update as soon as possible. I'm loving this story and I've got lots more of drama that's just waiting to happen! Stay tuned!_


	8. Revelations

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own them.

**Author's note:** Thanks for the reviews! I am SO sorry for the long wait. Apparently, I'm about the most lazy person on this earth when it comes to writing! I just couldn't get started. Ah well, here it is now! Enjoy! (As we've established, I cannot write a descent fighting scene so forgive me for doing a crappy job at writing one!)

**Love is in the air  
Revelations**

They found the other rangers waiting in the main room. Blake stood up as soon as they entered, a worried and guilty expression in his eyes. His stance was tense as if he was waiting for Hunter to explode at any moment. Hunter gave his brother a small smile which proved to be enough to put Blake at ease a little more.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked, carefully.

"I am and I'm sorry about freaking out like that earlier but I still think you had no right to tell them. However, it's done now and it might actually be for the better." Hunter answered with a small nod and then turned his attention on the other rangers. "Let's get something straight first. I appreciate you guys wanting to look out for me but that doesn't mean you need to keep your eye on me the entire time. I'll help for ask when I need it, I promise."

The others nodded slowly and sensing there was more to come, they didn't say anything just yet. Dustin and Hunter exchanged a glance and Dustin gave Hunter a small nod.

"There's something else you should know." Hunter started. Expressions of worry immediately appeared on his friends' faces and he couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. "This is isn't bad, I promise but it is something you need to know." Hunter swallowed heavily. He'd been the one wanting to tell them about him and Dustin but now that he was standing in front of his friends, he was finding it harder to tell them. Them being cool with the past and them being cool with their relationship were two entirely different things. For one, they hadn't known Ben and they did know Dustin.

Dustin reached and took Hunter's hands in his own, entwining their fingers. A look of realization dawned on the other's faces and Cam actually had a small smile on his face.

"Dustin and I … Well, we've been kind of dating for a while now." Hunter said quickly.

Blake promptly sat back down again and there was silence for a couple of seconds which made Hunter feel very uncomfortable and self conscious. Dustin squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Cam was the first to break the silence. "Well, I'm glad for you guys." He said, smiling and leaning back in his chair.

"I am too … I think." Tori said, "But Dustin, I didn't even know you were gay, or at least bi."

Dustin shrugged. "Does it really matter which gender the person is? It's about caring about each other, not gender."

"Wow, dude, you actually sounded smart there." Shane said with a little laugh that sounded a bit shaky. Dustin noticed Shane was obviously shocked by this, he could see it in his friend's eyes and his posture but at least he wasn't running screaming from the building which meant he was at least dealing with it or attempting to.

"Blake?" Hunter asked.

"You know I'm okay with this. You deserve to be happy, you both do."

"Thanks, bro." Hunter said with a grateful smile.

"Yeah, thanks," Dustin said.

The sound of the computer beeping made the rangers groan. What was it with Lothor and his crappy timing? They often wondered if the evil space ninja was spying on them and sent monsters when they could do without them.

"Guess we got to check that out." Shane said with a little sigh.

"Kelzacks at the center." Cam reported. "Let's go."

They arrived at the scene and after making sure no one was around went through their usual morphing rituals. It seemed like a Kelzack meeting, there were quite a lot of them but if there was one thing the rangers had learned, then it was that they were nothing more than a useful warm-up before Lothor sent down the monster. It wasn't different this time. Their muscles were all warmed up by the time the freak of the week appeared out of thin air. It wasn't any less ugly than any other monster.

The rangers regrouped, standing side by side, waiting to see if it had some kind of message from Lothor, which did happen sometimes. It didn't but it did go on about how it was going to destroy them which made Dustin snort. The wind rangers drew their Ninja Swords and held it out in front of them. A sword materialized in the monster's hand.

Ben watched from behind a pillar as the fight progressed. He briefly considered helping the rangers out but then decided it would be more fun to see what they were made of. After all, it was very important to know who you were up against and how strong they were. He decided it was especially useful to know what that yellow ranger could do, he was enemy number one.

Before they knew it, the wind rangers were engaged in heavy combat. The monster's sword moved so fast that it managed to deflect any of their slashes. They barely saw the monster's arm move at all but Shane heard the woosh of the sword before it slashed him across the chest, effectively sending him to the ground. Luckily, it hadn't penetrated his suit. Tori managed to deflect a blow and not more than a mili-second later, found her sword flying out of her hand. She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being slashed at and went for her sword, leaving Dustin fighting alone after barely thirty seconds which didn't give the Thunder rangers and Cam a lot of time to react. Dustin managed to deflect one slash, aimed at his left shoulder. It left his right side vulnerable and he wasn't quick enough to bring his sword back down to deflect a slash aimed for that side. As soon as he realized the sword had started to dig into his suit, he streaked a couple of feet away but not quick enough for it to leave no damage. He'd felt it graze his skin through the fabric of his suit.

Meanwhile, Shane had gotten out of harm's way and Tori had gotten to her sword while the Thunder Rangers had formed their Thunder Blaster.

"We need to get that sword away from him," Shane yelled while the Thunder rangers fired their weapon which seemed to have little effect on it but at least forced him back a bit.

"Agreed. This is crazy, dude." Dustin remarked, running a hand over the side of his suit to make sure it was still in one piece. These suits could sure handle a lot.

"We have to attack him all at once, using our swords. We streak around him which will make us faster and less easy targets." Cam spoke hurriedly while keeping a careful eye on the monster.

The rangers nodded. The Wind rangers drew their swords again, the Thunder rangers pulled out their Thunder staffs and Cam pulled out his saber. They disappeared in their different streaks. Their plan was a little harder to execute than they had thought, they had to be careful not to hit each other in which case their circle would get broken and they would end up in a pile on the ground. However, while it was difficult, it was successful. They managed to make a lot of hits without being hurt too badly themselves. They managed to get away its sword after which the battle changed in their favor. They jumped out of their streaks and formed the Thunderstorm Cannon. It took them one blast to make the monster explode.

As expected, it grew. Cam called the zords. Fighting the monster in their zords, proved as difficult as fighting it on the ground but with some clever thinking and Cam's weapons, they managed to kill the damn thing.

After the fight, the rangers headed back to Ninja Ops.

Ben leaned against the pillar, thoughtful look on his face. While they had been good, that monster had been kicking their asses at first. Hunter had become a much better fighter, he had noticed that much but he was confident that he could still take him on if he had to. However, he was pretty sure that he couldn't take them all on at once. He probably couldn't even take on two at the same time, especially not if they went in ranger mode. But with a little help he could. It was time to test if the saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' was true.

Night fell over Blue Bay Harbor and Hunter had decided it was time to spend some much needed time with his boyfriend. Things had been crazy lately and while he was sure it wouldn't be getting any better any time soon, that was no reason to not enjoy their relationship. They couldn't let Ben come between them, it was exactly what he wanted anyway.

Dustin's parents had gone out of town for a couple of days so Dustin had invited him over to watch some television and just relax. The boys were cuddled up on the couch, flipping through channels but not really paying a lot of attention to what was on as they were mostly focused on their conversation. That is until Dustin came across a show he apparently liked.

"Whoa, that's _Supernatural_. Re-runs probably but that's cool, I missed most of the season anyway."

Hunter raised an eyebrow at him. "When do you find time to watch the television?"

"I don't which would be why I missed half the season. Are you paying attention, dude?"

"You still found time to watch the other half." Hunter pointed out.

"Well, it's a good show and it's got hot actors." Dustin said with a grin. Hunter turned his attention to the television screen and had to admit both guys were rather hot.

"What's this about?"

"It's about these two brother, Sam and Dean Winchester and they're on a mission to find the thing that killed their mom …" Dustin launched into an explanation about the show and Hunter was genuinely surprised at how much Dustin knew about it. He'd never before heard the other boy talk about the show so it was a bit of a surprise to find out that it was obviously Dustin's favorite show.

"Sounds interesting but come on, fighting ghosts and other creatures from urban legends? That's ridiculous."

Dustin snorted. "This coming from a power ranger who faces weird things on a weekly basis."

"Good point."

"Besides, it more about the relationship between the brothers anyway." Dustin launched into another explanation about why it was such an important thing and why the show was all about their relationship. By the end of the second explanation, Hunter was pretty sure he could start watching the show without getting confused, if he wanted.

"Oh, sorry, man. I'm boring you with this stuff, aren't I?" Dustin asked, smiling apologetically and looking up at him from under long lashes.

"No, you're not," Hunter said with a reassuring smile. "As a matter of fact, I think it's cute that you know so much about the show."

Dustin grinned. "Only you would describe it as cute." He said with a fond shake of the head before he leaned in to press his lips on Hunter's. One of his hands slid in Hunter's hair while Hunter cupped his cheek. With his free hand Dustin reached for the remote and switched the television off. _Supernatural_ did not compare to the sensation of kissing Hunter. Their kisses became more heated soon and it wasn't long before Dustin was making noises he wasn't aware of that he could even make. It was something between a needy moan and a whimper. Hunter seemed to like the noises though so he did nothing to restrain them.

His fingers were itching with the need to touch Hunter. His hand slid under the crimson shirt. He could feel Hunter shiver at his touch which brought a smile to his face. Hunter's hands were all over his back and his front but still not under the shirt which for Dustin was just frustrating. He broke their current kiss and pulled his hand away from Hunter's warm chest in favor of pulling of his own shirt. He didn't know where his sudden courage to do this came from but his self-conscious attitude seemed to have fled when he'd gotten turned on. He didn't particularly mind. The look of lust from Hunter proved to only further turn him on.

He smirked and reached for Hunter's shirt. Hunter leaned forward slightly and allowed him to pull the shirt off, revealing his slightly tanned and muscled chest. Dustin ran one hand over the smooth surface, his eyes followed the movement. He discovered a thin white line next to Hunter's belly button, he hadn't ever seen it before. Probably because he hadn't exactly been paying such close attention to Hunter's chest before. He traced the thin scar with one finger. Hunter tensed under his touch and when he raised his head to meet Hunter's eyes, there was an expression of uncertainty and fear there as if Hunter wasn't sure how he would react to the scar. That left no doubt in Dustin's mind that it had been caused by Ben.

"Hey, it's okay." Dustin whispered soothingly, not fully understanding Hunter's fear but if he had to guess, Hunter thought it would disgust him or something. "Talk to me."

Hunter shook his head and just reached for his shirt. He pulled it back on. Dustin decided doing the same was the best option so he picked up his own and slid it back on.

"Are you okay?" Dustin asked when it was obvious Hunter wasn't going to say anything.

"I'm fine. Just think we're moving a little too fast."

Dustin had the feeling there was more to it but decided not to pry. Instead, he apologized. Hunter looked at him as if he had grown a second head and told him he had nothing to apologize for. There was an awkward silence which lasted for about a minute before Dustin just started rambling about whatever he was thinking about. Half an hour later, Hunter decided it was time to go home, leaving a confused and guilty feeling Dustin behind.

_Author's note: I just had to throw some Supernatural in there, haha. Sorry. Poor Hunter sure has some issues, huh? Anyway, let me know what you thought of the chapter!_


	9. intimidation

**Disclaimer: **Nope, still don't own them.

**Author's note: **Thanks a bunch for the reviews, they make my day! This will be my last update in two weeks because I'm going to Spain for two weeks, I leave on Wednesday. Also, Whispering ranger made a kickass banner for my story, check out my profile for the link. This site won't let me post it in this chapter.

**Love is in the air  
Intimidation**

Dustin was still asleep the next morning when a ringing penetrated his subconscious mind, interrupting a very happy dream about the rangers actually defeating Lothor once and for all. Dustin groaned into his pillow and just buried himself under the covers again. There was that ringing again. He sighed and turned on his back. He glanced at his alarm clock which said 7:30 a.m. Who dared to wake him now? His alarm wouldn't go off for another forty-five minutes. He sighed and kicked off the blankets.

The events of the night before hit him. Another groan escaped him and he seriously felt like crawling back in bed and pulling the covers over his head. He didn't really feel like facing Hunter today. Hunter had said he hadn't done anything wrong but he still felt like he had and he hated feeling like that. He shook his head and got out of his bed.

He had identified the ringing as his doorbell. He padded down the stair is nothing but his yellow boxers and a too big white shirt. He threw a glance at himself a glass surface and saw the mess that was his hair. He ran his hand through it a couple of times but that never helped a lot and he had already reached the front door. He pretty much pitied the person on the other side of the door, he looked like absolute crap.

He opened the door to find a man on his steps. He was wearing a baseball cap but some hair was peeking out on the sides. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of faded blue jeans. He was wearing a brown leather jacked and Dustin noticed a purple sweater under it.

"I'm so sorry to bother you," the man said, smiling apologetically, "I'm Jake, the nephew of David, your neighbor. I'm staying with them but I kind of locked myself out and they don't respond to the ringing of the doorbell. Would it be okay if I stayed here for like half an hour until they wake up?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, dude. Come in." Dustin said, letting the stranger enter. He didn't know the neighbors had a nephew called Jake. Then again, he didn't know much about them so it wasn't a big surprise.

"How did you manage to lock yourself out?" Dustin asked, leading the way to the living room.

"Only got back home just now. Forgot my key." Jake said with a smile. Dustin noticed he had quite a nice smile. He was probably a couple of years older than him but definitely not more than five.

Dustin smiled. "Can I get you anything?"

"A glass of water would be nice."

"Sure, coming right up." Dustin went into his kitchen and returned with a bottle of water.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Anyway, let me quickly go put something on."

At Jake's nod, Dustin went back to his room, taking the steps two at the time. He pulled of his white shirt and instead pulled on a yellow one. He grabbed a pair of jeans from his chair. In his hurry to put them on, he lost his balance and fell down on the floor on his ass with a loud bang. He winced and crawled back to his feet. Just another bruise on his ass.

He returned downstairs.

"You okay? I heard a bang."

"I fell," Dustin admitted, grinning sheepishly.

"Clumsy too, huh? Yeah, I know that. I get more bruises in one week than the average person in a month." Jake said.

"Wow, me too, dude." Dustin said with a grin. Jake smiled again and took a sip from his bottle of water. There was something familiar about the other boy as if he had seen him before but he wasn't sure where. There was a chance he had seen him at Storm Chargers or just on the streets. That must be it.

"So, nice house. Do you live here alone?"

"No, no, not at all. My parents are out of town for a couple of days."

"Ah, that would explain it." Jake said with a nod.

"I'm hungry," Dustin exclaimed. He invited Jake to have breakfast with him and Jake accepted, insisting to make pancakes for him. Dustin said he didn't have to go through the trouble but Jake insisted. Half an hour later, they were eating the most delicious pancakes Dustin had ever eaten.

"Secret recipe," Jake said with a grin.

"These are brilliant, dude!" Dustin said, stuffing another half of a pancake in his mouth.

"I'm glad you like them," Jake said laughing. After breakfast, Jake helped him clean up before saying it was probably best to get back home. His aunt and uncle would be awake by now anyway.

By 8:45 a.m., Dustin was ready to go to Storm Chargers. He grabbed his cell phone and his wallet and made sure to lock the front door. He saw Mrs. Hendrikson, his neighbor working in the garden. He walked over to her.

"Good morning, Mrs H." Dustin greeted.

She sent him a warm smile. "Good morning, Dustin."

"I met Mr. H's nephew this morning, cool guy."

"Nephew?"

"Yeah, Jake."

"My husband doesn't have a nephew called Jake."

"Then who was at my –" Dustin cut himself off, paling considerably. The guy had looked familiar, almost as if he had run into him before … or maybe he'd just heard his description. His eyes widened and he swallowed nervously. A shiver ran up his spine.

"Dustin, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I-I've just gotta g-go," Dustin quickly wished her a good day and ran to the closest place from where he could streak. He reached Storm Chargers just as Hunter and Blake arrived.

"Dustin, dude, what's wrong?" Blake asked.

"I … He … I didn't know … I let him in." Dustin stammered, looking wide-eyed between the brothers.

"Whoa, Dustin, you're not making any sense," Hunter said, placing hand on his shoulder. He could feel the tremors run through Dustin's body. His worry spiked. "What's going on?"

"I think Ben was at my house." Dustin said.

Hunter paled and his hand fell from Dustin's shoulder. Blake's eyes widened.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Blake asked urgently.

Dustin quickly told them what happened and made sure to properly describe the guy.

"It was him," Hunter said with a nod, "He sometimes made me pancakes, said he had a secret recipe."

"I can't believe I let him in, I can't believe I didn't recognize him." Dustin said, rubbing a hand over his face. He noticed it was shaking. Ben had been right there and he hadn't even known, hadn't even sensed that something was wrong. Ben could've easily done something to him but he hadn't.

"It's not your fault. I should've shown you guys a picture."

"We don't have any anymore, Hunter, you know that!"

Their conversation was interrupted by Kelly's arrival. She looked between the three of them and raised an eyebrow in question.

"It's nothing, Kel." Blake said with a reassuring smile that most likely didn't look very reassuring.

Ben pulled of his baseball cap and watched the four of them go inside, a smile appearing on his face. Well, that had almost been too easy. Now he most likely wouldn't be able to get to the other rangers but it didn't matter. He'd easily gotten inside Dustin's house. He could've hurt him, probably killed him but that wasn't what his visit had been about. It had been a message, saying he knew where they lived, saying they should be worried. He wanted them freaked out because he had learned that freaked out often meant unfocused which would make any attack way easier. He was in no way done with the rangers, not by a long shot.

Dustin was doing inventory in the stock when Hunter joined him.

"How are you?" Hunter asked carefully.

"I'm fine. Still can't believe I let him in though." Dustin shook his head.

"I shouldn't have left you alone."

"What are you talking about?"

"I should've known he'd pull this sooner or later. Should've been prepared." Hunter said, looking anywhere but at him. Even though Hunter's eyes weren't on him, Dustin could just sense the feeling of guilt. It was running off Hunter in waves.

"Hunter, it isn't your fault," Dustin spoke quietly, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around Hunter's neck. Hunter pulled away.

"That's the thing, it is. I brought this upon all of us. It's my fault that he's here." Hunter's eyes met his this time and Dustin could see in his eyes he actually thought it was. He could see Hunter's insecurities. Could see all the emotion in his eyes. Could see how Ben had broken Hunter all those years ago and it just made him angry. If only he could turn back time, then he would kick Ben's ass.

"No, it's not, Hunter. None of it is. Ben is a twisted son of a bitch."

"I know but if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be here."

Dustin started to realize that the chances of talking to a wall and it actually replying were bigger than the chances of getting through to Hunter. He heaved a sigh.

"We've gone over this. Whatever happens, we're all facing it together. Let him give it his best shot. We'll be ready." Dustin said, sounded a lot more brave than he felt.

"Really? Because you obviously weren't this morning," Hunter pointed out.

Dustin had been afraid Hunter would say that because it was true.

"Look, this is what he wants. He wants us to be scared of him, he wants us to wonder if he's watching us or not. We can't let him get to us. You should not let him get to you like this."

"You're right. I should get back to work."

Dustin blinked but before he could react, Hunter had walked out. Well, that was easy … too easy. He shrugged and went back to work. Ben's latest visit had freaked him out but freaking out in front of Hunter would only make his boyfriend feel more guilty and he didn't want that. Boyfriend … there was something about that term that didn't fit them. Their relationship, if it could be called that, was a mess. With the new development, it seemed highly unlikely they would talk about what had happened the night before. Hunter wasn't going to open to him now. He was quite clueless as to what to do.

Hunter knew he had do something. Ben was getting too close to his friends. Heck, he'd walked right into Dustin's house, had shown them he could do that. Ben wasn't going to back off. His stunt had also shown that Ben hadn't changed, despite what he had said earlier. He was determined to get him back, no matter the cost. It was that fact that worried Hunter. He didn't even want to think what his next move would be. Didn't even want to consider the possibility he might go after his friends and his brother. Hunter didn't doubt for a second that he would. Now only if only he could do something to get Ben away from his friends. He would do whatever it took to keep his friends safe, he had to.

After work, the rangers met up at Ninja Ops to fill in Shane, Tori and Cam. They had been insanely busy during the day so they hadn't had the chance to tell them.

"So, be careful. If you think someone is following you, it's a good possibility you're right," Blake concluded, taking in the shocked faces of the other three rangers. Shane's shock however changed to fury within seconds.

"I am going to kill him. I swear, if I see him, I'm going to kick the crap out of him!"

Hunter opened his mouth to say something but Shane interrupted. "Yeah, yeah, I know. He's dangerous. But seriously, more stunts like that and I'll be pretty dangerous too. This guy seriously needs to learn he can't mess with us like this. We can't let him get to us."

"That's what I said!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Dustin, you were freaked out this morning," Hunter pointed out unhelpfully.

"Of course I was, dude. I was in shock but I'm good now." Dustin said with what he hoped was a genuine smile. In reality, he wasn't good. Ben knew where he lived, could probably get in without him even noticing. It wasn't exactly a comforting thought.

"I don't think it's safe if anyone stays at their house by themselves." Cam said, "If he knows where Dustin lives, it's safe to assume he knows where the rest of you live too."

This made them all go silent again. Cam was right. In the next five minutes, they talked about who would stay with who and Cam had never thought it would be so difficult for them to decide. In the end, Hunter decided to stay over at Dustin's as the Yellow Ranger had refused to stay with Shane and leave his house unguarded. That in turn had led to Blake inviting Tori over. She had easily agreed so Shane decided to stay at Ninja Ops which Cam had at first been quite against but Shane had insisted, saying that if Ben had followed them home, then there would be a good chance that he also knew where Ninja Ops was which basically meant they were screwed.

When they'd arranged that, the rangers went their separate ways to pick up the needed stuff. Hunter however insisted that Dustin come with him first. No chance in hell was he letting Dustin out of his sight.

Ben saw the rangers come out of the portal, all looking as if they were in a hurry. He hovered outside of the portal and saw the red one return not more than fifteen minutes later, carrying a backpack that he was sure would explode if there were more things put into it. Now he just needed to get into Ninja Ops for another step of his plan, he needed to get in touch with the rangers' enemy, he needed to get in touch with Lothor.

**To be continued.**

_Author's note:_ Hope you liked it! Let me know!


	10. Breakdown

**Disclaimer:** Did Hunter and Dustin kiss during NS?

**Author's note:** I am back! Yay! And here is the next chapter! It turned out a little differently than what I had intended but I'm pleased with it! Let me know what you think!

**Love is in the air  
Breakdown**

"Once we're inside, we're going to check the house first." Hunter said while Dustin reached for his house key. The yellow ranger nodded and slid the key in the lock. He carefully pushed the door open and they entered slowly. Hunter lowered his bag on the floor, making sure to not make a sound. Dustin quietly closed the door. They were standing in semi-darkness now. The only light coming in was the light from the street. Dustin crept up the stairs while Hunter disappeared into the living room.

Dustin felt pretty ridiculous, sneaking through his own house like this but they had to be careful. He reached the first door which was the door to his room. It was open so he walked in, making sure to check behind the door. There was no one there. He moved onto the next room which was his parents' room. The streetlights cast eerie shadows in the room and it looked as if something was moving. Dustin about got a heart attack until he realized it was the shadow of the tree outside. He shook his head and smiled. He was going crazy. He was about to move to the next room when there was a loud crash from downstairs that made Dustin jump.

"Hunter?" Dustin called out. There was no answer. "Hunter!" Dustin took the stairs down, two at the time and trying not to trip over his own feet in his hurry to get downstairs.

"Son of a …" He heard Hunter mutter.

Dustin turned on the light in the living room to find Hunter sprawled out on the floor. He'd apparently tripped over a bag Dustin had left lying around.

"Sorry about that, dude," Dustin said grinning sheepishly.

Hunter got to his feet and sent the bag a glare. He looked back over at Dustin and sighed. "Well, good news is that I doubt Ben is here and if he was, he'll be long gone by now and probably laughing his ass off."

"Yeah, so much for our sneaking, huh?"

Hunter nodded. "You should probably check to make sure everything is how you left it."

"Yeah, good idea. Grab yourself something to eat or we can order in. I'm in the mood for pizza."

"No!" Hunter reacted vehemently. "No, bad idea."

"What? You think Ben is going to poison our food, kidnap us and torture us slowly?" Dustin asked with a bit of a smile.

Hunter blushed a little, realizing he might be getting a little too paranoid now. Then again, it wasn't such a far fetched thought. He wouldn't put it past Ben to be lurking and somehow poison their pizza. Now that he was at it, Ben was probably tapping the phone too and possibly had cameras in the house. Hunter shook his head. Now he was being ridiculous. Poison wasn't Ben's thing, neither were cameras and bugs. He took one of the menu cards that Dustin gave him and stared at intently, trying to decide what they both liked.

Dustin did a quick check of the house, checking all rooms again but this time with the light on so he could see if something was missing or out of place. It all seemed fine. By the time he returned downstairs, Hunter was already sitting on the couch with a glass of coke in front of him. Next to Hunter's glass was a second glass of soda for him. Dustin grinned at the thoughtfulness and sat down next to Hunter, but not too close because he didn't think that was such a great idea.

"I ordered us a large pizza with cheese, ham, tomatoes, some other stuff I already forgot but no mushrooms."

"Sweet! Sounds excellent, dude." Dustin said, sending one of those smiles at Hunter that lit up the room. And looking at that smile, Hunter could pretend that everything was okay. He badly wanted things to go back to normal … To what was normal for them anyway because their lives weren't exactly normal. No other seventeen and twenty-one year olds had to deal with fighting an evil space ninja determined to take over earth and make life miserable … Not that Lothor wasn't already making their lives miserable because he was.

They talked a bit, about random stuff but the conversation was slightly forced. Hunter could sense Dustin was about to ask him something. Then the doorbell rang. Dustin actually sighed and got up to get the door, clutching the money.

Hunter relaxed back into the cushions of the couch, running a shaky hand over his face. He knew Dustin was going to bring up what had happened the night before at some point. He couldn't blame him. Things hadn't exactly ended the best way but it wasn't a conversation he wanted to be having and yet it was one he had to have if he wanted their relationship to work. Things were already bad enough between them as it was. Dustin wasn't going to put up with this forever.

Dustin returned with a large pizza box and put it on the table in front of them.

"Dig in!" Dustin said with a wide smile as he opened the box. They each grabbed a slice and ate in silence. Hunter ate as slowly as he could, knowing that otherwise they would have to talk. Dustin finished and sat back on the couch. He could pretty much feel his eyes on his back. Feeling his hunger disappear, he put down his slice and sat back too.

"What happened last night, man? I thought things were going fine."

There it was. "They were. It's just … I don't know." Hunter said, sounding desperate, even to his own ears. He really didn't know. There were so many emotions coursing through him that it was impossible to sort through them and figure out what it was that was really bothering him. He tried to make sense of them but all he succeeded in was making it worse. He felt like he was drowning in all of those different emotions, felt like he was suffocating. Breathing became harder. He was going to work himself right into a panic attack right this.

Dustin saw Hunter's eyes widen seconds before his breathing became too irregular. It were more like little gasps. "Hunter, you've got to calm down, man. Come on, relax." Dustin said, tying to stop the panic from sounding through. Hunter had gone so pale, looked as if he could pass out any moment. Dustin didn't know what to do, had no clue what he could say or do. He wanted to reach out, touch Hunter but was afraid that would have the reverse effect.

"It's okay. We don't have to talk about it or anything," Dustin said in a soothing tone of voice and he congratulated himself on actually managing to sound soothing.

Hunter could hear the words but they barely registered, too caught up in the whirlwind of emotions ranging from anger to hurt. He could practically feel Dustin run his finger over the scar again. It seemed to burn. He was bombarded with the memories of how he got that particular scar. He tried to push the memory away, he didn't want to remember. He shut his eyes firmly and more memories came back, things he had forgotten or simply repressed. Fists hitting already tender skin, the snap of a bone, Ben tying him down and raping him. He could practically feel the burn in his ass. He could hear Ben, yelling at him, threatening him.

"_You can't walk away, Hunter. I own you!" Ben yelled, a fist flying towards his face so fast that Hunter wouldn't have been able to duck even if he had wanted to. He could hear the sound of flesh on flesh even before the sharp stinging in his jaw registered. His hand automatically went up to his cheek and he stared at Ben, eyes filled with fear at the expression of rage on his boyfriend's face. He took a little step back which only proved to further aggravate Ben. Ben moved so fast that it barely registered and slammed him up against the wall.. His head slammed back against the smooth surface with a thud, drawing a groan from Hunter. His vision briefly blurred before it focused on Ben again. His face was inches away and he could practically feel the anger radiate of off Ben._

"_Remember, boy, if you go, your brother gets it." Ben said with such an evil smile that Hunter wished the walls would somehow swallow him up and get him away from Ben._

_He nodded. "I know, I'm sorry." He whispered, "I won't leave, I swear."_

_He stared in Ben's eyes, saw the anger fade slowly until there was an expression in Ben's eyes that could only be described as tenderness and for a second, Hunter saw the guy he fell in love with and his chest fluttered. Then that guy was gone, his expression darkened slightly and Ben easily flung him across the room. He landed against the couch and pain shot down his back._

"_You better not." A shoe connected with his abdomen. Ben pulled him up and then his mouth was on his, tongue prying his lips open, teeth clashing. Hunter knew better than to try and get away so instead he responded to the kiss as best as he could. He felt sick but there was nothing he could do. Ben's hands wandered over his body and came to rest on his pants. He easily pushed them down over his hips, underwear following soon after. Since he wasn't completely healed from last time, the one finger sliding sent pain throughout his body. It burned so bad, he could feel tears slide down in his cheeks while Ben was still kissing him violently and pushing in a second finger, preparing him for something he didn't want at all._

When he snapped out of it, he found himself in Dustin's arms, sobbing like a little kid while Dustin was muttering words of comfort that made little sense. It helped to hear his voice though. For the past couple of days, he'd managed to keep most of the memories locked but tonight they'd made it to the surface. All the pain he went through came crashing on him. As much as he tried to stop crying, he couldn't.

"It's okay, Hunter, you're fine," Dustin mumbled for the umpteenth time while sobs still wracked Hunter's body. The sound of his crying started to affect Dustin too and he had to fight to hold back his own tears. Hunter sounded so heartbroken. It made Dustin want to personally track down Ben and kill the bastard. He wasn't a person who wished death on someone but if someone deserved, it was Ben. He mumbled more incoherent stuff in Hunter's ear and stroked Hunter's dirty blond hair.

He didn't know how long he sat like that but eventually, Hunter stopped crying and a glance at his boyfriend's face told him Hunter had managed to cry himself to sleep. Dustin carefully slid off the couch, trying not to wake Hunter. He managed to get Hunter to lie with his head on the pillow and got his legs up on the couch too without Hunter waking up or as much as making a sound of protest. He must've really exhausted himself. He ran upstairs to get a blanked and draped it over Hunter's body.

He wished Hunter was upstairs in bed, he'd sleep a hell of a lot better there but there was no way he could get him upstairs so the couch would have to do. He kneeled down next to the couch, just staring at Hunter's face. Dried up tear tracks ran all over his cheeks and after debating whether or not it was a good idea to rub them off, he tenderly did just that.

It was barely ten p.m. so he figured he should probably let Blake now, probably at the cost of his and Tori's evening but if someone needed to know Hunter had broken down, then it was his brother. He grabbed his cell phone and headed in the kitchen to make the call. Blake insisted on coming over but Dustin managed to talk him out of it, saying Hunter was asleep anyway and probably wouldn't wake up before next morning. Blake reluctantly agreed and after a string of curses directed at Ben, put Tori on the phone. At Blake's request, he briefly explained again how Hunter had just broken down.

/Dustin, are you okay?/

"I'm fine, Tor." Dustin replied, running a hand over his face and noticing it was shaking. Went well with the shake in his voice.

/Maybe we should come over./ She sounded worried.

"No, it's fine. Really. I'm okay. And tell Blake not to worry, okay? I'm not leaving Hunter's side tonight." Dustin said which probably meant he wasn't going to get much sleep but he wasn't about to go upstairs and sleep in his room. He wanted to be close incase Hunter got nightmares. He needed to be there for him.

/Sure… Blake says we'll be there at seven a.m. tomorrow./

Dustin laughed softly. "Whatever. Just make sure he doesn't show up here before that time. Hunter's asleep anyway, there's nothing he can do."

/He knows. Good night, Dustin./

"The 'good' is up for debate." Dustin muttered over the phone. Tori laughed a bit. She asked him again if he was sure that he didn't need them there. Dustin replied he could handle it for the night.

After hanging up, Dustin went upstairs to grab himself a blanket and then made himself comfortable on the other couch which was a lot smaller than the one Hunter was on. He doubted he'd get much sleep anyway. He could pretty much still hear Hunter crying and it just broke his heart.

He listened to Hunter breathing. It was heavy and regular. Dustin just prayed Hunter had exhausted himself so much that he would have a nightmare free sleep. He didn't know what had brought on the sudden breakdown but he was probably remembering. Him prying hadn't helped any and he felt guilty. It had been obvious that Hunter hadn't wanted to talk about it. Why had he been so stupid to ask anyway? Hunter could claim that he was fine all he wanted, he was anything but. And Dustin had no clue what to do to help him. He obviously wasn't ready to talk about it yet and even if he was, Dustin had no idea what he could say that would possibly take away Hunter's pain or even remotely help.

He pulled the blanket up higher and bit his lip. He felt so powerless and he hated that feeling. He wanted to be there for Hunter and fight his demons with him but if Hunter wouldn't let him, he couldn't. Heck, even if Hunter let him, he probably couldn't. He shook his head. There had to be something he could do, something … The only thing coming to mind was killing Ben and he was pretty sure that might not be the smartest option either. Then again, maybe he could get Lothor to help him on this and get him to send Ben off into space … that would be good. He actually managed a little smile as he imagined Ben floating around in space in a little ball and cursing everything and everyone. His smile faltered when he realized that's exactly how Lothor became his oh-so pleasant self. Bad plan.

He closed his eyes, intending to just rest for a bit but before he knew and could stop it, he was drifting off to sleep.

**To be continued.**

_-Points at review button-_


	11. Breakin

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own them.

**Author's note:** Thanks for the reviews! And sorry for the long wait! I've been busy (and lazy). Also, I seriously screwed myself over with this chapter, you'll see why. I'm sorry if half of this doesn't make a lot of sense, it didn't even make sense to me!

_**Love is in the air  
Break-in**_

Hunter awoke the next morning when sunlight streamed in through the living room windows. With clarity, he remember his breakdown and some memories. He couldn't deal with the memories now. It was bad enough that Ben was back. He'd been pretty successful at repressing them the last years but his luck seemed to have run out. He felt like he had felt right after Ben left: broken, empty and vulnerable. He didn't want to feel like that. He had to be strong, not only for himself but also for his friends. He had to stay alert. He couldn't take trips down memory lane with danger lurking around the corner.

He pulled himself up in a sitting position on the couch and winced slightly as his muscles protested. While Dustin's couch wasn't uncomfortable, it wasn't made to sleep on either. His eyes fell on Dustin's sleeping form and he winced again. Dustin's neck was tilted back at an angle that would no doubt hurt when he woke up. One leg was on the couch, the other off the couch. The blanket was stuck somewhere between his legs and halfway his chest were he was holding it. He looked pretty adorable and Hunter couldn't help but smile. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach flutter.

He was quite torn between waking Dustin up or letting him sleep. He was going to be sore either way. He settled for pulling his knees up on the couch and just watching as his boyfriend slept. It still felt weird to call Dustin his boyfriend. He was in love with Dustin but if he was honest with himself, those feelings weren't as strong as they used to be. He could feel his heart closing down, he didn't want to get hurt again. He couldn't handle it again. He knew Dustin would never turn into Ben but when they broke up, it would still hurt emotionally. It would hurt a lot and he would crash and burn all over.

Dustin stirred and cracked open an eye. He shot upright when he noticed he was up.

"Morning. You okay?" Dustin asked. He started untangling himself from the blanket and reached up to rub his neck. His eyes stayed on Hunter.

Hunter smiled faintly. "I'm fine. Sorry about last night."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Dustin replied, smiling softly. He moved over to where Hunter was sitting and did the only thing he could think of: he pulled Hunter into a hug. Hunter stiffened up at first but then his arms came around him and he buried his face in the crook of his neck.

Hunter felt the loss of body heat when Dustin pulled away. The younger ninja's arm remained around his shoulder and Hunter leaned into his side, somehow needing the contact and needing to be close to Dustin. Even if his feelings had somewhat changed, he wasn't about to give up the comfort that Dustin was offering because he needed it, it was as simple as that.

Dustin absently rubbed Hunter's arm, his eyes fell on the lit up numbers on his DVD-player. It was 6:30 am.

"I kind of called Blake last night. He said he'd come by at 7."

"Dustin," Hunter whined and he pulled away from Dustin to glare at him. Just what he needed, his younger brother being an over-protective and worrying idiot.

"He needed to know!"

"No, he did not. You shouldn't have called him!" Hunter flew up from the couch. He didn't know what fueled his sudden anger, maybe it was the fact they were fussing again.

"He's your-"

"Still does not give you the right! I shouldn't have come with you in the first place. God."

Dustin looked up at a clearly agitated Hunter and frowned. He didn't think letting Blake know was such a big deal but obviously it was to Hunter. Dustin couldn't blame him for being upset though. He probably felt embarrassed.

Dustin stood up and placed his hands on Hunter's shoulder and could feel how tense he was all of a sudden. He stared directly into Hunter's eyes and held his gaze. Hunter didn't look away but his deer-caught-in-the-headlights look didn't change.

"I care about you, Blake cares about you. We want to help but you have got to let us. That doesn't mean you have to talk about it but just let us be here, will you?" Dustin spoke slowly and hopefully soothingly. He could feel Hunter relax under his hands and he gave Hunter's shoulder a light squeeze. Hunter reluctantly nodded and again apologized. Dustin just leaned in and pressed his lips against Hunter's in a soft, closed-mouthed kiss.

Hunter was actually smiling when he pulled away.

"Do you want breakfast? I can probably make some toast."

"And set the kitchen on fire in the process? I think I'll just have cereals."

"Dude, I would not set the kitchen on fire making toast," Dustin said with a pout.

"You're right, you'd set the whole house on fire."

Dustin scowled and brushed past him to go to the kitchen. Hunter followed, chuckling.

At exactly 7, the doorbell rang. Hunter tensed again. Dustin squeezed his shoulder in passing and headed for the front door. He hadn't even opened the door properly or Blake brushed past him. Tori followed a little more slowly, sending a worried glance his way. Dustin gave her a small smile and closed the door.

"I'm fine, Blake," Hunter said before Blake could as much as open his mouth. He glared at his brother, daring him to call him on the obvious lie. Blake's shoulders slumped and he just sat down next to him.

--

Ben dropped his jacket on the bed of his motel room and took a sip of the steaming hot coffee he was holding in his hands. He had just gotten back after staking out the portal the entire night, trying to find a way into the Ranger's headquarters without triggering every security measurement in place. He had come up with a plan that didn't leave many room for screw-ups.

Getting through the portal wouldn't cause much trouble. He would be able to get through without anything happening, only Ninjas could go through it anyway, only good Ninjas. It wouldn't open for Lothor. He would have no problem going through as a Thunder Ninja himself. He was pretty sure that the headquarters did have security measures in place so he had checked. He had discovered multiple cameras, scattered all over the place. They would track his every movement, he knew they wouldn't be fooled by a streak. He was going to have to get in, inconspicuously. He would have to delete the footage of himself and replace it with previously shot footage. He'd have to create a loop of about an hour so that he could get away unnoticed too. He knew his way around computers so that shouldn't be a problem.

Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing if he would trigger any kind of alarm when he entered. He probably would which would mean he needed to move fast to switch it off. A blueprint would really come in handy right now but he was never going to get his hands on that. If there was an alarm, there would have to be an alarm control near the entrance which shouldn't be hard to find. He would have to turn it off before it could send a signal to the main computer. After the alarm was turned off and he'd changed the footage, things would probably go smoothly. He hoped. It was his only chance at attempting to get in contact with Lothor.

He nodded to himself and finished his coffee. That would have to do it. He closed the blinds of the motel room and crawled into bed. He needed sleep, he needed to be alert that night. He couldn't afford any mistakes.

--

Night fell over Blue Bay Harbor. Ben stood, just staring outside as darkness engulfed the street, thoughts running through his head at miles a minute and his heartbeat faster than usual. This had to work, it just had to. He would have to destroy the rangers and only then Hunter would see that they belonged together. Right now he was too wrapped in a false sense of friendship and love. They didn't care about him, didn't love him the way that he did. He would have to make him see, he would have to make him realize that.

By half past midnight, he was ready to go. He was dressed top to bottom in black, complete with black hat. He wouldn't need more.

He streaked over to the portal in under a minute and decided not to wait anymore. He easily went through and made his way over to the underground bunker. He entered their headquarters and caught a little red light flashing on his left. Probably the alarm. There was a panel nearby, one that was too easy to open and switch off. He remained standing for a couple of seconds, listening for any sounds but he was met with silence.

He moved over to the main room which was easy enough to find since it was just down the hall. This was almost too easy. He quietly made his way over to the computer and switched it on. The bright light of the screen briefly blinded him but his eyes adjusted soon enough. He had no trouble pulling up the footage from not even a minute ago. Five mini-screens popped up on the big one. He caught himself moving in everyone of them but for not more than a second in each frame

Next, he pulled up the footage from the day before, exact same time. He deleted the footage that had him moving and replaced it with the other footage. He made sure to create a loop so that it would continue showing the same footage for an hour. He was done with that within ten minutes.

"You must be Ben," a voice from behind him said.

He whirled around to find the guys with the glasses standing a couple of feet away, smiling unpleasantly at him. A second guy appeared next to him.

"Good job at getting in here and putting off the alarm. Too bad you didn't know that the alarm sends a signal to the computer in my room."

Ben paled. Why hadn't he thought of that? Getting in had been too easy, they would never have made it that easy. He shrugged and smiled easily. "My mistake."

The guy in red moved over to the entrance, clearly intending on blocking his exit. Ben snorted and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Telling you would kind of defeat the purpose of my plan," Ben replied.

Now it was the Green one's turn to raise his eyebrow. "You're not getting out of here, you know? It's two against one."

"Oh, gee, I hadn't noticed. Don't think that will stop me." Ben said cheerfully, preparing for the fight that was sure to come. He knew he had good chances of getting out but if he did, then his plan of contacting Lothor would fail. His entire plan would fail. He could try to kill them now but it was too soon, where was the fun in that? Maybe he should re-think his plan, take them one by one, kill them one by one. On his own terms and in his own way. That sounded like a better plan. They had taken Hunter from him, had poisoned his mind. They deserved to live long enough to feel pain, and lots of it.

"Oh no? Try us. I dare you," the one in red said, cracking his knuckles. Oh, he definitely seemed to be in the mood for a good fight. Ben was happy to oblige.

"Bring it on,"

The Green one came at him first, so fast that any normal person would have missed his movement but Ben was trained for this kind of stuff. He grabbed the fist directed at his face and shoved it out of the way, giving him the chance to plant his own fist in his gut. When he doubled over, Ben brought his knee up, hitting the Green one right in the face. His head snapped back and he landed on the floor.

The woosh of air told him the Red one was coming at him. He turned but didn't manage to duck the kick aimed for his midsection. He stumbled back against the computer. The Red one brought his arm down, Ben rolled out of the way and he caught the keyboard instead.

"Shane!" the Green one warned.

"Cam, now is not the time to worry about the freaking computer," The Red one, Shane, yelled back as he ducked one of his high kicks. Ben's legs were swiftly kicked out from under his body and he landed on his back on the floor. When Cam's leg came towards his midsection, he reached grabbed a hold of it and sent him back to the floor. He jumped up and was surprised by a fist suddenly connecting with the side of his face. It made him stumble back but he kept his balance. Shane charged at him again. Ben easily ducked his first punch and did a back flip to avoid a kick. He stood in a defensive fighting chance as both Shane and Cam charged at him.

He could easily deflect most of their blows and get a few kicks and punches in. He was quite enjoying the fight. They were good, that was true but if he really brought his best game, they'd be defenseless.

"I'm enjoying this," Ben said in between dodging a punch from Shane and kicking Cam back, "But it's time for me to go." When Shane charged at him, he kicked him back, briefly making him lose his balance and then shoved him back into Cam. While the two rangers fell to the ground, he made his exit, streaking away. He streaked around Blue Bay Harbor just to make sure they weren't following him before he returned to his hotel to revise the plan.

**To be continued.**

_Author's note: Isn't Ben just a lovely guy? Do let me know what you thought of this chapter._


	12. Too close for comfort

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own them

**Author's note: **Sorry for the wait, ladies and gentlemen but I have been busy. I was on a three day trip with the university I'll be attending which was super fun! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! And thank you for the reviews!

**Love is in the air  
Too close for comfort**

Cam had called an emergency meeting at Ninja Ops to discuss the events of the night before. The other rangers listened in shock as Shane and Cam told about their fight with Ben. Hunter's color had gone from already pale to ghostly white by the end of it. Ben was getting way too close for comfort and even worse was that they didn't seem to be able to stop him.

"Do you have any idea what he wanted?" Tori asked.

"I found him standing by the computer. I interrupted him halfway but from what I could gather, the only thing he was able to do was create a loophole with previously shot footage from the day before to mask his arrival and departure." Cam replied.

"And you're sure that's all he did? He didn't create a virus? Didn't sabotage us in some way?" Blake asked, looking from Cam to the computer as if he could determine like that what had happened.

"I ran a check, checked every program I could think of, checked the logs, checked everything. That's all he did." Cam answered with certainty.

"That's good … I guess," Dustin said, "But then there's still one question: what's his plan and will he come back?"

"That's two questions," Shane couldn't help but point out. Dustin rolled his eyes and waved a hand in a 'whatever, dude' way.

"I'm going to put up more security measures." Cam said.

"Like what?" Hunter asked.

"I'm not going to bore you with a technical explanation but basically, I'm going to password protect the portal. Our morphers being the password. When you enter, the morpher will send a signal to the main computer and you'll be allowed access. If you're not wearing a morpher, you'll be kicked out again. I'm going to need your morphers for a couple of minutes."

The rangers handed Cam their morphers and let him get to work. They knew by now Cam liked silence so they headed to a training room. Hunter didn't join them so Dustin excused himself and instead follow Hunter back up to the forest. They walked in silence for a little while before Hunter sat down, Dustin sat down next to him.

"He's getting too close." Hunter said softly.

"I know, but we're going to stop him one way or another." Dustin replied, reaching out and taking Hunter's hand in his. Hunter didn't pull away and entwined their fingers.

"I don't see us stopping him in the near future, he got away from Shane and Cam."

"He caught them by surprise. Look, try not to worry about it too much, dude. We'll deal with it as it comes." Dustin said gently. The words didn't have a soothing effect on Hunter at all but well, Dustin was sure there was nothing that could comfort him at this moment. He knew Hunter was still blaming himself for this mess and Dustin was afraid that if Ben kept pulling stunts like this, Hunter would do something stupid like attempting to find Ben.

They sat in silence for a while, just thinking and in Hunter's case, worrying.

"Hey, Dustin?" Hunter asked breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" Dustin asked, tearing his eyes away from the tree he had been staring at in order to look at Hunter.

"Do you think it'll all be okay?"

"Of course," Dustin said with a smile, "When have we not figured out a solution?"

"You're right." Hunter said with a small smile, "We'll be okay."

Hunter didn't sound entirely convinced but it wasn't as if Dustin was so sure of it. This wasn't one of Lothor's monsters they were facing. This was a guy of flesh and blood with an actual brain and an ability to come up with smart plans instead of the monsters' usually not so smart plans. They had no way of knowing what Ben was going to do, whether he was going to try to get in again or not, whether he was going to come up to one of them or not. It was that fact that drove Dustin crazy the most. They knew Ben was around but they didn't know where. They knew he was going to do something but they had no idea what. With Lothor's monsters, it was easy: they showed up to destroy the city, the rangers fought them, occasionally got the crap beaten out of them but eventually won. It was always the same structure.

"We better go back inside." Hunter said after another silence. Hunter helped him to his feet and didn't let go of his hand which for some reason immensely pleased Dustin because he had no idea how to react around Hunter. He didn't want to say or do the wrong things, he didn't want to trigger another attack of memories. It would be inevitable but he didn't want to push it, not again.

When they reached the common room, the four other rangers were sitting on the floor in a circle. Cam was obviously done. Hunter and Dustin grabbed their morphers and put them back on their wrists which for some reason soothed Dustin. Weird as it was, he felt naked without his morpher. The weight on his wrist was comforting.

"We were just talking about how it might be better if the six of us stay at Ninja Ops." Shane said, turning to look at both of them.

"No way." Dustin argued at once.

"Dustin-" Cam started.

"No, dude. It might be safer but I'm not leaving my house."

"Dustin, we'll be more of a danger to our families if we do stay there," Tori pointed out, "Assuming Ben is somehow keeping track, he'll know that we're not staying there anymore so he won't have reason to go back."

"Or maybe he'll see that as an opportunity to do something," Dustin countered. "With us not there, he might target our families."

"Dustin does have a point," Cam said with a frown.

"We obviously don't know but we're stronger together," Blake replied.

"I don't plan on hiding out the entire time though." Shane chimed in.

"Yeah, me neither, dude. Besides, we still have our jobs at Storm Chargers too and for all we know, Kelly might be in danger too." Dustin pointed out. He hadn't really thought about that before but it was true. She might be a possible target.

"Guys, I know Ben, I don't think he will go after our family or friends, he wants us… me." Hunter chimed in, looking around the group of rangers.

"We can't be sure of that." Shane said.

"I am." Hunter pressed. "He's not stupid enough to go after our families because if he does do something to them, the police _will_ get involved. He knows we're not going to the police as long as it's us. He knows we're going to try to do this on our own, because we know he's dangerous. The police won't be able to stop him."

They fell silent, contemplating what Hunter had just told him.

"So we all stay here?" Blake asked.

"Still no," Dustin replied. A collective groan went through their group.

"Why the hell not?" Shane asked. "Your parents aren't even home!"

"Exactly!" Dustin exclaimed as if it was the most logical thing in the world. The other five just stared at each other and then at Dustin.

Dustin heaved a sigh, "So he may not do anything to our families but my house is fair game. If he does something there, we won't alert the police either because we'll know it's him."

"Good point," Cam remarked.

Dustin nodded proudly.

"Three people stay here, three people stay at Dustin's then." Shane suggested. Shane agreed to go with Dustin and Hunter while Tori, Blake and Cam stayed at Ninja Ops.

It was late afternoon when Dustin started going stir-crazy. They had returned to his place, had played some games on his Playstation but now they were plain bored.

"Let's hit the track. It's been ages since I went riding," Dustin suggested.

"Well, anything beats staring at the empty television screen," Shane replied.

Both friends looked at Hunter who shrugged. "Sure. Should be fun."

Thirty minutes later, Hunter and Dustin were all geared up and ready to go driving. Shane stood by the side-lines. Tori, Blake and Cam said they would join them soon. Shane made him self comfortable on one of the benches.

"Ten laps, winner has to buy the other a six pack. Well, you'll have to do in either case because I'm not 21 yet." Dustin added.

Hunter rolled his eyes behind his helmet but nonetheless agreed.

"Three, Two, One, Go!" Dustin called. They were off in an instant.

--

Ben watched from behind the trees. Hunter had become an excellent racer. He looked good out there and could no doubt become a professional if he didn't have the whole ranger thing going on. Ben sadly shook his head. He wanted Hunter to become famous, wanted people to envy him. But he would never be able to have that as long as he was around those people he called friends. They didn't know what was best for him. Being a ranger wasn't. That much was obvious. Those people were too selfish to let him go, to let him go after his dream. Instead, they forced him to stay because he was 'one of them'. Hunter wasn't, he would never be. The sooner he saw that, the better for everyone.

After a couple of laps, Hunter had driven away from the other. Their friends had by now arrived too which complicated his plan but only slightly. He just had to wait for Hunter's boyfriend to reach the part of the track he was closed to and then he could strike. He closed his eyes, blocking out everything but the distinctive roar of the motors. He could easily distinguish Hunter's from the other one's.

Power started burning inside of him, he was summoning his element. Thunder came roaring closer and was upon them in an instant. Lightening struck once and Ben's eyes shot open. The yellow one was coming close to where he was. An evil smile appeared on his face. Another lightening bolt struck from the sky, aimed precisely at the yellow one's wheel.

Ben was moving in an instant, disappearing into his streak. As in slow motion he heard a shout, the wheel gave out and the bike along with the rider were falling to the ground. In a second, he was there. He knocked the ranger out, removed his morpher and then lifted him up in his arms, streaking away. In three seconds, the job was done.

--

Hunter skidded to a halt at Dustin's shout but by the time he turned his bike around, there was no sign of the yellow ranger. Hunter swallowed heavily and drove back. He kneeled down and picked up the morpher that lay forgotten on the sand. The others joined him. He stood up and showed them the morpher. Their eyes widened. They didn't even need to ask what had happened, they knew.

**To be continued**

_Author's note: Well, I hadn't intended for Dustin to get kidnapped but then I wrote it and decided to keep it in. Poor Dustin though, he's usually the one getting kidnapped in my stories. Anyway, review!_


	13. Stuck

**Disclaimer:** As of yesterday, I own Ninja Storm. Be ready for a new season.

**Author's note: **Hey all! Sorry for the long wait! I was too uninspired for this story and too inspired for others. Also, check out Griffin Blackwood's story. Summary for his story: Thunder Ninja-in-Training Griffin Bradley is sent back to fix time. With the help of the Titanium Ranger, his father, and many more past and present Rangers, will he succeed? Or will the future change as we know it? Hunter/Dustin, Griffin/Ryan SLASH. You can find his name in my Favorite Author's list.

_**Love is in the air  
Stuck**_

Dustin's head was throbbing unpleasantly. He let out a little groan and opened his eyes. He had to blink a couple of times in order to focus on his surroundings. He was in what seemed like a dirty basement. The room wasn't big and there was no furniture, no window either. There was a staircase going up to a door but Dustin was pretty sure it wasn't going to be unlocked. He made to get up but a sudden pull on his wrist and the sharp bite of cold metal into his flesh prevented him from doing so. He was chained to the wall. Great. His morpher was also gone.

Dustin often wasn't the smartest of people but for once, he had no problem putting one and one together to come up with two. The sudden strike of thunder, being knocked out cold. It was safe to assume Ben was behind this. This was also the last time he suggested going to the track. Next time Cam told them to stay inside, he was going to stay inside. It had been stupid to think Ben wouldn't be on the look-out. They'd had no clue what he'd been trying to do at Ninja Ops, only knew they'd probably ruined his plan somehow. So of course he'd be thinking up something new. And what better plan then to kidnap him. It was clever, it was sure to get Hunter's attention.

Dustin didn't particularly fear much for himself. Maybe that was stupid, maybe he was right but the way he saw it, Ben needed him in order to get to Hunter. If the other rangers realized that, they could attempt to locate his location and save him. It never was that simple though, Dustin realized that much. He just prayed Hunter wouldn't do something drastic, prayed he would be patient but the chances of that were not good. He just hoped that Blake could talk some sense into him. He sighed and lightly slammed his head back against the wall several times.

He pulled on the chain for a bit, expecting it to somehow break out of the wall but luck wasn't on his side. He was just going to have to wait for Ben to show his ugly head and then try to work on an escape plan.

--

Blake watched his brother pace. He didn't even bother to tell him to sit down. When his brother needed to think, he'd brood. When he was agitated, upset or angry, he needed to pace. It was his way to not completely lose it and try to keep a clear head. Blake didn't know how long that was going to last though. Blake had never seen his brother more pale. His jaw was firmly set and his fists were balled by his side. It was the expression in his eyes that worried him the most though. There were so many emotions flaring in his eyes that it was difficult for Blake to name any of them. It worried him that he actually saw emotion. Hunter was usually good at closing himself off completely. The fact that he wasn't able to –or didn't want to– didn't promise much good. He was going to snap. Blake could feel it. It was just a matter of keeping an eye on him and making sure he didn't do anything stupid, like go after Ben himself, offer himself in exchange for Dustin. He knew those thoughts were running through Hunter's head. He'd do the same for Tori in a heartbeat. It wouldn't help Dustin any though because then he'd be the one beating himself up over it.

"I can't track them down," Cam announced.

It wasn't that much of a surprise but their shoulders still sagged. Cam had hoped to track Dustin's Ninja signature but Ben had shielded it. Cam had explained while he'd scanned the area with his computer that strong ninjas were able to create some kind of shield which would conceal the signatures. It seemed like Ben had just done that. Cam told them he'd tried to track him before but that it hadn't worked. It seemed like Ben hadn't broken his shield once.

In other words, they were screwed.

"There's got to be something we can do. What if just split up and go through Blue Bay Harbor?" Tori suggested.

"That won't work. They may not even be in Blue Bay Harbor." Shane countered with a shake of his head. Tori's hopeful expression disappeared.

"We've just got to wait," Hunter spoke up.

"Wait for what?"

"For him to come to us. Or rather, come to me."

"Hunter-" Blake started to say.

"I don't want to hear it, Blake. I'll do whatever it takes to get Dustin back."

Shane stood up and stood right in Hunter's path, forcing him to stop pacing.

"I don't like this situation anymore than you do, Hunter. Dustin's my best friend. But if you're thinking of doing whatever it is that Ben wants, then you can forget that right this moment! You are not, I repeat _not_ going to give into what he wants."

"Okay, let's go with that! You'll never find Dustin and all it will achieve is him kidnapping someone else!" Hunter said, with the faintest hint of anger in his voice.

"We'll deal with that when it happens."

"Shit, Shane!" Hunter shouted. "Do I need to remind you what Ben did to me? And he supposedly loved me! I don't even want to think about what he will do to Dustin or to any of you guys. I'm not going to let it come that far."

"We won't let it come that far. Ben's going to slip up sooner or later!" Shane replied, voice rising slightly.

Hunter snorted. "Yeah, and pigs fly!"

"Hunter, I swear to God, I'm going to tie you up if I have to but you're not going to do something stupid!"

"It wouldn't be stupid."

"Yes, it would!" Shane yelled, finally losing his temper, "Yes, it would be stupid! Let's think about Dustin here for a second-"

"I am!"

"How is he going to feel when you give yourself up for him?"

"I don't fucking care, Shane! At least he'll be safe!" Hunter yelled, sending Shane a withering glare.

"Guys, stop it," Blake said sharply and coming to stand between his brother and Shane who had gotten closer since they'd started shouting. He forced them apart.

"This isn't helping any. Calm down, both of you!"

Hunter's glare disappeared as soon as it had come to be replaced with tiredness. He scrubbed a hand over his face and turned away from them. Shane's expression also fell and was replaced with worry. He opened his mouth to speak but Blake shook his head. Shane closed his mouth and simply sat back down.

"At the moment, there's nothing we can do." Blake said, voicing what they all knew. "We have to wait for Ben to make the first move. I don't like this anymore than you guys do but all we can do right now is attempt to get some sleep and wait."

Hunter huffed and stomped out. Blake followed right after.

--

Dustin was getting seriously bored. He had no clue how long he'd been down here. For all he knew it was morning already. He wasn't exactly tired. Being kidnapped did that to a person. His arm though was starting to ache from hanging up slightly in a weird angle. And he was hungry and thirsty. Ben wasn't exactly being a good host.

He was almost relieved when the lock turned and the door opened. Ben came down the stairs, holding a plate with bread and water. Well, at least it was something.

"Eat. You're going to need your strength. I suggest you also get some sleep," Ben almost managed to sound as if he regretted having to do this. Almost.

"Sleep, dude? How?" Dustin asked, yanking the chain for emphasis.

"Sorry about that but it's kind of necessary. I can get you a pillow and a blanket though. I'm pretty sure it's going to get cold down here. I'll be right back."

Dustin's eyebrows rose. This was … unexpected. Ben returned with, as promised, a warm blanket and a pillow. He dumped them on the floor next to him, wished him goodnight and went back up. Dustin was left gaping. Ben was seriously insane, crazy, ready for a mental institution. This worried him more than a cold and calculated Ben, a lot more.

Nonetheless he put the pillow behind his head and covered himself with the blanket while eating the bread. It was enough to fill his stomach. He tried not to drink too much because he didn't want to have to go to the toilet.

He closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. The floor was cold and hard but somehow, he managed to fall asleep.

--

2.15 a.m. That was how late, or rather early, it was. Hunter still wasn't sleeping. Didn't think he could either. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Ben, doing things to him. Steadily the image had changed in Ben doings things he didn't even want to think about to Dustin. This was all his fault. He shouldn't have let it come this far, should've done something sooner. Right now Ben was doing God knows what to his lover. He couldn't stand the thought and gave up on sleeping all together. He rested his back against the headboard and stared into the darkroom, wishing for morning to come soon, wishing Ben would be in touch.

--

The next morning, Dustin was sore. His arm was aching from having fallen asleep and dropping to the side a bit. He shouldn't have attempted to sleep. He was trying to relieve the pressure by crouching which worked for a while but then his legs started hurting. He hated Ben. A lot.

He glared coldly at Ben upon his entry. The other male just smirked at him. He seemed like a completely different person then the night before. Dustin figured the games had begun.

"Morning, sleeping beauty, slept well?"

"Yeah, I was real comfortable," Dustin bit back sarcastically which made Ben laugh. He should've known it would.

Ben crouched down in front of him. "I can see why Hunter likes you so much. You're funny and quite handsome," Ben remarked, eyes running over his face and body in a way that made Dustin feel very uncomfortable.

"I still don't see why he ever liked you." Dustin shot back.

Ben's eyes darkened and before Dustin could react, a fist connected with his face. His head slammed back into the wall and involuntarily, a groan left his mouth.

"I love Hunter," Ben hissed, "And he loved me until you came along."

"I hate to break it to you, dude but he stopped loving you when you beat the crap out of him and left him to die." Dustin replied.

He shrank back against the wall when Ben's expression became murderous. Perhaps arguing with his captor wasn't such a bright idea.

Ben grabbed his chin firmly in one hand so that Dustin couldn't break away. "Hunter will be mine again. I don't care what I have to do."

"He won't be yours again, dude. You blew it." Dustin wondered when his brain and mouth were going to start working together because this was not a good move. He had these kind of problems a lot but he would've thought that in situations like these, it would be easier to keep his mouth closed. Obviously not.

"We'll see about that," Ben replied, letting go of his face. He stood up, smirking. "I'll be back soon, prepare yourself mentally, it isn't going to be pretty."

For the first time, Dustin actually feared for himself. Crazy wasn't the right word for Ben's mental state. Insane didn't begin to cover it either. He was too far gone, caught in an idea that the end justified the means but it wouldn't. Hunter wasn't going to back to Ben, at least that's what Dustin hoped.

--

Ben risked a glance at himself in the mirror. His eyes were slightly more wide and he looked angry. He couldn't afford to lose control like this, he couldn't slip up. Dustin had no clue what he was talking about, didn't know Hunter like he had. Hunter would thank him later. He knew that much because he knew Hunter.

Hunter needed to be punished though and he would do that by waiting to contact the rangers for a deal. He still had to work something out anyway. In the meanwhile, nothing prevented him from having a little fun with the yellow ranger. If anything, it would help prove his case. He wandered into the living room of the place he'd broken into and grabbed his camera out of bag which was carelessly laying on the old couch. This would do.

When he was through with Dustin, the yellow ranger was going to wish he'd never fallen for Hunter.

_**To be continued**_

_-hides behind Sam (from Supernatural)- Don't kill me?_


	14. Prisoner

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything!

**Author's note:** Again my sincerest apology for the wait! I've finally made the decision to put everything else I'm working on, on hold until I've finished this story! So yay me! –coughs– Major thanks to Liz for helping me out and kicking me into action! You're the best, hun! Thanks for all the reviews and the support! Enjoy!

**Warnings:** Rape!

_**Love is in the air  
Prisoner **_

Dustin didn't know what was worse. Being forced to wait to see what Ben was up to or having the man in the same room. Right now, he was leaning towards the former. He grabbed hold of the pillow and repositioned it behind his head. His thoughts drifted back to his friends. They must be going insane with worry, Hunter the most. He wondered if there was actually any way they could track them. If there was, they probably would've found him by now. He sighed. Why did this bastard just had to come back when things had been going good? Dustin was scared what would become of him and Hunter when this was over. It hadn't exactly been going good before this had happened because Hunter had felt guilty for putting them in danger. He didn't even want to think about what was going through Hunter's head now. He wished there was something he could do to make him realize it was not his fault but he was a bit tied up right now.

When the door opened, he felt relieved and anxious at the same time. He hadn't thought it would be possible to feel those two feelings at the same time but he was.

"It's time for a little move," Ben said with a wicked grin. Before Dustin could react, Ben's foot connected with his head, swiftly knocking him out cold.

When he came to, he had a blinding headache. It hurt to even move his head. He was pretty sure there was a nice imprint on his face too. He realized he was vertical. The softness under his back made him realize he must be on a bed, he blinked open an eye and confirmed his conclusion. Both his arms were tied to the headboard. His legs were spread widely and loosely tied to the bedposts. He could still move them a little. A glance at his body told him he was naked. How he noticed that as last was beyond him but his throbbing head probably played some part in it. The room was warmer than the basement but he was still cold.

"Sleeping beauty awakens," came a taunting voice.

Dustin lifted his head a little and saw Ben sitting in a chair, holding a photo camera in his hands. He didn't even want to know.

"About time too, I was getting tired of waiting." Ben stood up and walked over. The expression in his eyes was one of pure lust and craziness. Dustin tried to press himself further in the mattress, tried to get away from his heated stare. Ben slowly licked his lips and sat down on the bed. His eyes roamed his body and Dustin couldn't help but blush.

"You're pretty when you blush," Ben said when his eyes fixed on his face. He reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from his face. Dustin flinched.

"Shh, I'm not going to hurt you," Ben said soothingly, "Well, possibly a little," he added as an afterthought. Ben put the camera on the bedside table before undressing slowly in front of him. Dustin looked away.

"Look at me," Ben asked, order clear in his voice.

Dustin refused and closed his eyes tightly. He heard the rustle of clothes being removed and his heartbeat sped up. His first time was supposed to be with Hunter, not like this, not tied up, definitely not with Ben.

Fingers gripped his chin and turned his head. Breath ghosted over his face. "If you know what's good for you, you'll open your eyes and look at me," There was hint of a threat in his voice now and it send a shiver up Dustin's spine. He opened his eyes to find Ben really close to him.

"Good boy," Ben said with a smile before he pressed a quick kiss on his lips. Dustin resisted the urge to gag.

Ben removed his shirt, revealing a muscled and slightly scarred chest. If circumstances were different, then he might've actually found Ben attractive. Ben's hands moved to his belt and Dustin's eyes followed. He opened the belt, then popped the button and slowly pulled down the zipper. The jeans slid down long and muscled legs. Dustin's eyes were drawn to his boxers which clearly indicated the beginning of Ben's arousal. This was so fucked up. Ben removed his last piece of clothing and Dustin gulped. This was going to hurt more than a little.

Ben laughed at the expression on his face. "I'll take care of you, don't worry."

Ben crawled on the bed and straddled him. Dustin's eyes went wide and he couldn't believe this was really going to happen to him. He struggled fruitlessly against his bonds which made Ben smile softly. He reached out and ran a finger over his face, tracing the line of his cheekbones and the form of his lips before running over his eyebrows and forehead. Dustin laid perfectly still.

Ben sighed softly and leaned in, pressing their lips together. Dustin didn't respond to the kiss which didn't discourage Ben in the least. He applied more pressure and forced his tongue between his lips, exploring his mouth thoroughly. Dustin had never felt more dirty than he did now and he was just kissing him. He wanted to honestly throw up at the tongue sliding over his own. It felt wrong, it was wrong. Ben took his lower lip between his teeth and tugged lightly before diving back in.

A hand reached between his legs, rubbing his limp erection. Dustin willed his body not to respond to the ministrations. Ben's fist wrapped more firmly around his member and started pumping slowly but gradually speeding up his pace. Dustin involuntarily let out a moan and he cursed himself for making the sound. He could feel his body respond and a wave of pleasure shot through him. Stupid teenage hormones.

Ben smirked against his mouth. "I knew you'd like it," he whispered.

"No," Dustin mumbled though there was nothing he could do to stop his body from arching up in his fist, for wanting _more_. Ben's erection was rubbing against his thigh and damn it, why was this turning him on? He tried to think of nasty things but his focus was brought back to the pleasure every time. Shit. Ben's mouth pulled away from his though the hand did not. And when had he closed his eyes? He opened them again, just in time to see Ben put his camera away. Heat rushed to his cheeks.

"Don't want your friends to miss out on all the fun," He said, smiling.

"You sick son of a bitch!" Dustin spat. His friends were going to see this, see he was actually hard. Crap. They were going to think he was some kind of slut. Crap. Stupid body.

"Come on now, Dustin, I can see you want this."

"No," Dustin denied, shaking his head though he had the feeling his denial had little effect with his body still responding to what Ben was doing. Dicks really did have a mind of their own, didn't realize when what was happening was actually bad.

Ben's mouth trailed over his chest, leaving open-mouthed kisses all over his naked and flushed skin. Ben took a nipple in his mouth and caressed it with his tongue. Dustin had to bite back moans and barely managed to do just that. He squeezed his eyes shut again, tried to think about something else, anything else. Thinking about his friends didn't help any and only made him feel guilty. Ben's mouth moved over to his other nipple. God. Their expression when they would see this, Hunter's expression. It hurt to even think about it. He moaned. Damn it! His eyes flew open. He was better at keeping his moans in with his eyes opened which also meant more focused on what was happening.

Ben's tongue dipped into his belly button and then circled it slowly before his mouth moved lower. Ben grinned up at him before taking his erection in his mouth and sucking gently. Dustin bit his lip, hard to stop from screaming out in pleasure. A coppery taste filled his mouth.

Dustin felt faintly disappointed when Ben stopped. Ben leaned back up on his body and pressed their mouths together again. Dustin felt himself responding to the kiss because damn it, he was hard, horny and needy. He didn't resist when Ben's tongue pressed against his lips. His body arched up against Ben's when their erections slid over each other. This was not supposed to feel this good. Yet it did. He wanted to touch Ben. He tugged at the restraints but they wouldn't give which made him frustrated.

Ben pulled away, smiling widely. He reached over to grab something from the drawer. Dustin's desire filled eyes followed him and his eyes widened just a little bit at the sight of lube and a condom. His body was screaming for it though, the pleasure was clouding his mind to the point where thinking became unnecessary. It barely registered when Ben snapped pictures of his face, he was lost in the feeling of their erections still sliding together, he was pushing up, wanting more friction.

He moaned disappointed when there was no more contact. Ben settled between his legs and Dustin instinctively opened his legs wider. He closed his eyes. A finger brushed his ass, circling his hole teasingly before slipping it a little bit. Then back out before pressing back in, pushing past the ring of muscles. Dustin let out a groan. It hurt. The hand was on his dick again and suddenly he didn't care so much about the pain. A second finger followed the first. The fingers moved inside of him, scissoring, opening him up. When a third finger entered, he was making sounds which were a cross between a moan and a whimper.

"Patience."

The fingers left his body and he could feel the tip of Ben's erection press against his hole. He wanted it. Pain shot through his body when Ben pushed in, the pleasure was pushed to the background and with it, his capability of thoughts returned.

"No, stop," he whispered, trying to get away. It was no use. Ben's grip on his hips was bruising and he didn't move until Dustin stopped moving. Dustin was panting heavily, trying to even out his breathing, trying to not think about the pain.

Then Ben started moving, slowly at first before speeding up until he was slamming back in. With every thrust, Dustin cried out in pain. Ben was fisting him roughly but there was no pleasure, just pain. It didn't stop him from coming all over Ben's hand and his own stomach though. He drew in a shuddering breath and tried to control his breath. He couldn't stop the tears from falling. He had no choice but to let Ben use his body. It could've been minutes or hours before Ben came with a loud shout.

Pain shot through his body when Ben withdrew.

"Hunter's going to love seeing you like this," Ben muttered. Dustin didn't need to open his eye to know Ben was taking pictures again. There was nothing he could do, nothing at all. They were going to see he had come, they were going to see he had liked it. His body wrecked with sobs. He vaguely heard the door to the room shut. He cried himself to sleep.

--

Ben brought Dustin back to the basement, made sure he was firmly secured to the wall again before moving into the living room. He pulled out his laptop and sat cross-legged down on the floor. He uploaded the photos to his computer. They were beautiful each and everyone of them. It was exactly the leverage he needed.

He uploaded them to his e-mail address and then sent it to Hunter's. He'd know it came from him. There would be no way it could be tracked as he'd made sure the e-mail would go through countless servers, making it eventually impossible to track it down.

--

The stench of vomit filled the basement. Dustin had just emptied the contents of his body next to him on the floor, feeling sick with not only Ben but with himself for actually having liked part of it. He clearly remembered his moans and his desire. It was wrong, all wrong. He felt bile rise in his throat and he spit it out. He was left dry-heaving as there was nothing more that he could possibly get out of his system.

The need for a shower was overwhelming. He wanted to wash Ben off him, all the evidence. He wouldn't stop scrubbing until his skin was clean. He felt so unbelievably dirty that it just hurt to breathe. He tried to shut down his thoughts but he couldn't, he couldn't get rid of the feeling of Ben pushing in him, of his moans and grunts. He shivered.

Where were his friends? He needed them to come save him. He couldn't be here anymore. He needed them.

**To be continued.**

_I get the feeling hiding behind Sam won't be enough this time. –grabs Dean too– _


	15. Retribution

**Disclaimer**: Still don't own them.

**Author's note**: Thanks for the reviews! It's almost over … Oh, I hid a Supernatural line in the chapter, whoever spots it gets a cookie, hahaha.

_**Love is in the air  
Retribution **_

"Hunter, you've got an e-mail." Cam said. The rangers immediately rushed over to the computer. They exchanged a look and when Hunter nodded, Cam opened the e-mail.

_Watch and enjoy._ Was the message that came with it. There were a lot of files attached to the mail, pictures. Hunter's hands clenched on the back of the chair, pretty sure he didn't want to see this. He mentally prepared himself to see a beaten up and probably tied up Dustin. Cam opened the first picture. It was a picture of Dustin tied to a dirty looking bed. He was naked and the side of his face showed a big bruise. His head was turned to the side and his eyes were closed. He was out cold. There was nothing but silence in the room. Cam clicked the next picture. It was a close-up of Dustin's face, showing the bruise perfectly.

Hunter wanted to be angry but his anxiety swiftly pushed the feeling back. Neither of them particularly wanted to see the rest of the pictures but their eyes remained glued to the screen nonetheless. They saw picture after picture of Dustin. They didn't need captions to know exactly what had happened.

Tori let out a sob at the sight of a close-up of a crying Dustin's face. His eyes were squeezed shut, pain was clear in every line of his face. There was one more picture. Cam apprehensively clicked it. It showed Dustin's ass, there was blood. Hunter knew he was probably all torn up inside too. He clicked away the picture as Cam sat frozen. Tori was crying against Blake's shoulder while Shane was trembling.

Fury shot through Hunter, he saw red. "That is it! That is fucking it! I am going to track that bastard down and tear him apart with my own bare hands!" Hunter yelled. He felt the overwhelming need to hit something, preferably Ben. He was going to god damn kill him! He'd gone way too far this time. His fear be damned. This was Dustin, the guy who wouldn't hurt a fly, the guy who was always happy and cheerful. He could imagine what this would do to him because he had gone through it too. He was going to kill him, repercussions be damned.

"Cam, track him down."

"Hunter-"

"Do it!" Hunter shouted. "Fuck!" He cursed. He kicked the nearest thing which happened to be the wall. Pain shot through his foot but it barely registered. He was going to sink his fists into that bastard's stomach time after time until he was begging him to stop. Like he had been begging years ago. He was going to get his damn revenge. He was done being scared. This would end as soon as Cam had found them. He was going to end it.

Shane stepped into his pacing path again and Hunter seriously considered knocking him out. Instead, he roughly shoved him away. Shane would have none of it and grabbed his arm, forcefully pulling him back. The fire blazing in the red ranger's eyes mirrored his own.

"We're going to find him," Shane said, voice low and dangerous, "And we're going to tear him to shreds."

Hunter smiled what only could be described as an evil smile and nodded his agreement.

Blake eyed the two shades of red with a worried expression. The expression in their eyes was murderous. He didn't doubt they were going to tear him to shreds. It was damn well what he wanted to do as well but it would cause them a lot of trouble. They couldn't. Getting that into Hunter's and Shane's heads was going to be extremely difficult. They were out for blood. They wanted to see him bleed. Heck, Blake did too. He wanted to see him suffer for what he had done to his brother, he wanted to see him suffer for what he had done to Dustin but killing him wasn't the solution.

His arm tightened around Tori. He could only hope Cam wouldn't track them down until both his brother and the red ranger had at least somewhat calmed down to be reasonable. What were they going to? Kill the bastard and hide the body? Hunter and Shane weren't killers, it was up to him to stop him before they would.

--

Dustin shrunk back against the wall when he heard the familiar sound of the door opening. He fearfully watched Ben approach. He was bringing food again. He left it on the ground next to him and without a weird went back upstairs.

Dustin wasn't at all hungry. He knew that if he even attempted to eat anything, it would come right back up. He pulled the blanket a little more tightly around his shivering form though it did nothing to help. The cold he was feeling came from the inside not the basement. His friends probably didn't even want to look for him after having seen those pictures, probably figured he wasn't worth it. Tears sprung to his eyes and trickled out of his eyes.

--

Hunter's fury wore down only to leave a deep hatred in its wake. His need for revenge was no smaller than before. This event had successfully pulled him out of his state of self-pity. His arms were crossed and he was leaning against the wall, watching Cam type away. There was nothing the rest could do but hope that Cam could work his computer wiz magic and find them. If he couldn't, well, then Hunter was going out there himself. He was going to find Dustin before that bastard could do more to him. He needed to.

He knew Blake was worried about him, could feel his gaze on him ever so often. He could practically read his mind. He didn't need Blake to talk to know what was going on in his head. Blake wasn't going to let him kill Ben. Though luck. It was the only way they could stop him. The world was better off without him anyway. He only caused hurt and problems. He'd chosen the wrong person to mess with.

--

Night was falling when finally Cam released a whooping sound.

"I found them! It wasn't easy as I had to track the e-mail through several countries and countless servers but I got them! If Ben thought I couldn't do this, then he seriously underestimated me!"

"Let's go." Hunter said. His fists clenched by his side and a new wave of anger swept through him.

"Wait!" Blake shouted, coming to stand in the doorway.

"What?" Hunter growled. It was a low and dangerous sound, almost animalistic.

"We can't just go in there and kill him."

"That's exactly the plan though," Shane remarked, moving but he was stopped by Tori.

"You guys are not killers. Killing Ben isn't going to solve anything." Blake said patiently.

"Are you kidding me? It'll solve everything!" Hunter roared.

"You really can't just kill him. Think about what it will do to you afterwards." Cam spoke up in his voice-of-reason voice.

"It'll make me feel a lot better."

"You're out for revenge, I get it. I would want to kill him too but you can't." Cam replied.

"We're wasting time. Come on!" Hunter moved but was forcefully stopped by his brother.

"I'm not going to let you turn yourself into a killer."

"Last time I checked, I kill all kinds of things," Hunter retorted.

"But not humans," Blake argued. "You can't hill a human being."

"I can and I will. Now let me go before I have to hurt you."

Blake knew that the person before him was not really his brother. Hunter was consumed by hate and revenge, it clouded his mind and his judgment. There was no doubt in his mind that Hunter would strike out. He'd just had to hope that somehow Hunter wouldn't be able to follow through with it. No matter what his brother said, he would feel guilty if he did kill him. He knew Hunter.

He let go and Hunter disappeared in his streak. Tori shot him a sad look and let go of Shane who followed after Hunter. The other three followed.

--

The house was easy enough to find as it was the only house in the block that looked like it could fall apart at any second. It was mostly shielded from the streets by big trees and bushes and was separated from the other houses. It was a good location.

Outside, the five paused. They didn't have a plan, nor did they feel like making one. It would cost them time and would lead to argument. So instead, they exchanged looks and just like that, burst in the house.

Splitting up in two groups happened almost instinctive, Blake and Tori went in search of Dustin while Cam joined Shane and Hunter into finding Ben.

--

Ben jumped when the front door broke down and he looked up just in time to see streaks shoot towards him. Well, shit, they weren't supposed to track him down. Almost automatically, he shot into a streak, streaking past them and out of the house. He was found out and he had pissed off the rangers, he didn't particularly feel like sticking around.

He could practically feel the three on his heels, could feel the anger they were radiating. In that instant he knew that he wasn't going to get away from them. They were driven by adrenaline and anger, two of the most powerful feelings.

--

Dustin jumped when he heard a loud bang from the house. He sat up straighter and felt pain shoot through his ass. The door to the basement open and he had no trouble recognizing Blake and Tori. His body sagged back against the wall in relief. They'd found him. They hadn't given up.

They rushed forward and he could see tears shine in Tori's eyes. He couldn't bare to see it and looked down. She kneeled down next to him while Blake checked the cuffs.

"Hang on," He ran back upstairs.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Tori asked gently.

"Not so good," Dustin replied, voice sounding small and lost. He still refused to meet Tori's eyes. She touched his shoulder and he flinched away but it didn't faze her.

"You'll be okay, Dustin, I promise. We'll help." Tori whispered softly.

"Where are…" The words died in his throat and he peeked up at Tori through his eyelashes. He didn't miss her worried expression.

"They went after Ben."

"No, they can't! He'll hurt them! Or worse, they'll kill him. They can't! They'll get in trouble." The last part was whispered.

"They won't kill him." Tori answered but her voice held no conviction.

Blake returned with the key. "Good thing he wasn't carrying it in his pocket," he remarked before uncuffing him. Dustin cradled his wrist in his other hand and rubbed his thumb gently over the inside of his arm, over his pulse point, trying to soothe away the pain. His wrist was rather raw looking from the cuffs and the rope.

"Can you get up?" Blake asked. Dustin nodded. Blake placed a hand under his elbow, gently helping him up. As soon as he had straightened up, Tori's arms came around him and she hugged him tightly. His own arms slid around her slender body and he buried his face against her shoulder, desperately needing the contact. He could feel Blake's hand on his shoulder, could feel the warmth of it radiating through his shirt and seeping into his previously cold skin. He soaked up their warmth as if it was the last thing that could save him.

--

They reached Ninja Ops. Blake had let the others know that they were taking Dustin back to Ninja Ops though he wasn't sure that they had gotten his message or where they were.

Blake regretted not having been able to go with the other three but he knew that if he had gone with them, he would have killed Ben. He'd not only been trying to stop them from doing it but he'd also been trying to stop himself. He wouldn't have the necessary restraint. He'd seen his brother suffer, had seen what that bastard did to him and now to Dustin. He would have killed him for sure but he was not a killer.

He just hoped that Cam could reason with them enough to at least not kill him. He didn't mind them beating the crap out of him because that was entirely justified.

He risked a look over at Dustin and Tori, they were sitting closely huddled together on the couch under a blanket. Dustin's head was tucked under her chin. She gave him a worried look and he managed a reassuring smile.

It was a relief when three streaks came back in. Dustin shot up from the couch. He could see their knuckles were bloody, their faces bruised. Dustin couldn't even ask if they had killed him, didn't really want to know either. Shane walked over to him and pulled him into a hug, surprising the hell out of Dustin but he returned the hug. Shane held on tight for a couple of seconds before letting go. He smiled at him and patted his cheek. Dustin grinned, not quite his usual grin but a grin nonetheless. He knew Shane was bad with words but his actions spoke volumes. Cam pulled him into a quick hug too but let go quickly which made Dustin smile too. He knew Cam wasn't the touchy-feely type so the hug meant a lot.

Last was Hunter. He eyed him carefully. He looked like the old Hunter again. He no longer looked broken or vulnerable. He didn't know what had triggered the change but it was a relief. He smiled tentatively, could feel the others' eyes on him as he walked closer to Hunter.

Hunter reached out and tenderly touched the mark running along his left cheek from Ben's kick. Something in his eyes broke, not for himself but for Dustin. He reached out and pulled him into his arms. Dustin relaxed and leaned against him. His arms went around Hunter's waist and he held on tight. He could feel sobs begin to wreck his body and he didn't bother holding them in. Hunter's arms only tightened around him more and he started whispering soothingly, telling him it would all be okay. Dustin believed him because as long as he had Hunter and his friends, he would be okay. He could feel it.

**To be continued**

_So, did they kill him, yes or no? Guess and find out in the last chapter!_


	16. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **It may come as a shock but I don't own them.

**Author's note:** This is it guys, the last chapter! (Sorry, Liz.) I had fun writing this one and I hope you had fun reading it! There may be more Hunter/Dustin stories but I'm going back to focusing on Supernatural. What can I say? It's my obsession! Lol. Thanks to all readers and reviewers for sticking with this story! Enjoy the last chapter! (Parts in italics are flashbacks.)

_**Love is in the air  
Epilogue **_

Hunter stared in shock at the newspaper. He was clutching the paper so hard that it was wrinkling. Dustin was saying something but the words flowed over him, they had no meaning. His boyfriend pried the paper from his fingers and surprisingly enough, it didn't rip as he just let go, too shocked to be able to do much.

Dustin read the little article, eyes getting caught on the picture. A wave of relief swept through him. He felt a little horrible for feeling like that but after everything that had happened, he had every right to be relieved. Shane was reading over his shoulder and mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'good riddance.' Dustin could only agree.

He hadn't the newspaper to the other three anxiously waiting rangers. They looked up at Hunter, expectantly and a little worried about what was running through his head.

"I can't believe he's really dead. I can't believe he really killed himself." Hunter spoke, raising up his gaze to look at the group. Dustin wrapped an arm around his waist and rested his head against his shoulder. His body warmth felt comforting. It was finally over. Ben had finished what they had been unable to a week ago. They had beaten him to within an inch of his life, until he had about passed out and then they had simply left. Hunter had seen in Ben's eyes that he would leave, he'd seen something break inside of him. It had felt oddly satisfying to see Ben break down, it had finally set him free.

Now he was dead. In all honesty, he hadn't wanted it to end that way because he knew Ben had killed himself over him. It always made him wish he'd been able to get Ben the help he needed, he'd seen hints of a sweet man. If only he'd gotten help, then things might have been different. Ben had been his first love and how could anyone ever really get over that? Tears unwillingly sprung to his eyes. He didn't want to cry over the man that had caused him and Dustin so much pain but he wasn't crying over that man, he was crying over the guy he was when they had first met. A part of himself couldn't help but feel that it was all somehow his fault. Maybe if they hadn't hooked up, then Ben wouldn't have become this monster. It was foolish and he probably would've but the 'what if' kept going through his head.

"At least we know he can't hurt us anymore now." Dustin said.

"Yeah," Hunter pressed a kiss on top of Dustin's head. "I'm going to go for a walk. Need to clear my head. I'll be back in a little bit,"

Dustin reluctantly let go but let him go nonetheless. The last week had been hard for them but they had together decided they wanted to give their relationship a second chance. It wasn't going to be easy as Dustin was still dealing with the rape but Hunter was always there to wake him up when the nightmares started, would always just take him in his arms until he had calmed down. His friends had been really great too, they had assured him they didn't think any less of it. It had been a quite emotional talk between the six rangers.

_Dustin looked at the group, tears shining in his eyes. They stayed quiet as he tried to think of how best to phrase what he was going to say next. He wrapped his arms more firmly around himself. He wished he was in Hunter's arms again but then he would stop talking about it and they deserved to know, they wanted to help but they couldn't unless he let them in. He'd read enough real life stories about people who'd gotten raped who pushed their friends away only to end up in a black hole. He was not going to let that happen, he wanted to deal with it, he wanted to move on. Ben's goal was to destroy him, all of them and he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of doing exactly that._

"_At some point … I actually liked it," The last part was spoken softly but he could see from their reactions that they had heard him. "I don't know why," he took a shuddering breath, "But I did, until he … you know." Dustin said with a wave. He still didn't feel like saying that part out loud and he was sure they got what he was saying anyway. _

"_It's not uncommon for rape victims to feel pleasure." Hunter spoke up, "I read it somewhere. And sometimes when Ben raped me, I liked it too. Well, parts of it anyway. The body just reacts. It happens."_

_Dustin doubtfully looked at him. "So you're not disgusted with me?"_

"_What? No, Dustin, of course not," Hunter spoke. He reached out and took his hand, squeezing his hand reassuringly. Dustin gave him a small smile and entwined their fingers. Hunter's hand in his felt good, it felt safe. He looked at the rest of his friends._

"_It's okay, Dustin." Shane said, holding his gaze, allowing him to search his brown eyes. His expression was warm and genuine. The others nodded and mumbled their agreement. It was really all he needed to hear. He looked around the group, saw pretty much the same expressions of acceptance, worry, warmth and love in their eyes._

_It became unnecessary to hide the tears. They were allowed to see it. He was pulled against Hunter's chest and he lightly stroked through his hair. Dustin grabbed a hold of Hunter t-shirt and just held on. He could feel the others' presence and their warmth, it was enough to lull him to sleep._

When he'd woken up, he'd actually been in Hunter's bed. Hunter had been right there with him, watching over him. The others had been waiting in the living room. Right then and there, he'd known he was going to be okay.

He was getting better though he was sure it would be a while longer before he would fully get over it.

He looked at the doorway Hunter had disappeared through. He was worried. This couldn't be easy for his boyfriend, none of it was.

"He'll be fine," Blake said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Dustin nodded.

The computer started beeping loudly. The suddenly loud sound startled them all. They turned to look at the screen to find an ugly monster terrorizing the park. They looked at each other and suddenly, Dustin was laughing. It had been a while since they had fought a monster. The normality of the situation was almost hilarious, felt good too. Cam let Hunter know and then they morphed. It was good to be back.

--

Dustin snuggled closer to Hunter. He was practically sitting in the other boy's lap but since Hunter didn't seem to mind, he didn't move. The television was on but Dustin wasn't following, didn't even know what it is they were watching. He was content just sitting here with his boyfriend like this.

Tori and Blake had gone out so they had the apartment to themselves. Things were starting to really good between two shades of blue and Dustin was really happy for them. Now Shane and Cam needed to get together. He had to smile at the thought. Definitely not going to happen. Then again, stranger things have happened.

"Do you think Cam and Shane would make a cute couple?" Dustin asked when he noticed Hunter taking a sip from his drink. He wasn't surprised when he choked on it. Mission accomplished.

"Shane and Cam? I don't see that one happening any time soon."

"Me neither but that's not what I asked, dude." Dustin replied. He braced one hand against Hunter's chest and used it as leverage to push himself upright so he could look at Hunter.

"Maybe." Hunter replied thoughtfully. Dustin could tell from his expression that he was actually trying to picture it. He hid a smile. Shane and Cam would throw a fit if they could heard them now.

"I guess they would. Maybe we should play matchmaker." Hunter said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Dustin laughed. "Or maybe not. I value my life too much."

"Yeah, me too." Hunter agreed, making a face. The combined strength and wit of the red and green ranger would definitely make them suffer if they ever attempted such a thing.

"The things that go through your head sometimes .." Hunter remarked, shaking his head fondly.

"I know, I'm awesome." Dustin replied cheekily.

"You are," Hunter agreed with a soft smile that made Dustin blush. Hunter cupped his cheek and then leaned forward, capturing his lips for a soft kiss. It was more of a graze of lips but it was enough to send shivers of pleasure up Dustin's spine. Only Hunter had this effect on him. He might've gotten turned on with Ben but that had been nothing more than some kind of physical pleasure. With Hunter, it ran way deeper. Dustin's tongue slipped out, teasingly running over Hunter's lower lip.

Hunter pulled away, like he had done every time Dustin tried to deepen the kiss. He heaved a frustrated sigh.

"I'm _fine, _Hunter." He said with a little glare though he didn't really mean it. He knew why Hunter kept pulling it away, knew it was because he didn't want to force him into anything. The problem was that his boyfriend couldn't seem to get it into his thick skull that he was not forcing him into anything, that he wanted to kiss him. If he wanted to stop, he would do and say so. Trying to convince Hunter of that had been impossible and frustrating.

"I know you are," Hunter said.

"No, you don't." Dustin argued. If he did, there wouldn't be a problem. He decided to drop it and instead, rested his head back against Hunter's chest. Hunter's arm tightened around him.

He tried to focus on the television and managed to do so long enough for him to notice 'Supernatural' was on. Cute actors. It couldn't hold his attention for very long though. His thoughts started to wander again, thinking about everything and nothing but mostly, his thoughts revolved around Hunter.

He couldn't believe he had thought they wouldn't be able to get past this. He'd doubted not only his own strength but also Hunter's. He'd made it clear pretty quickly that he still wanted to be with him.

_The others had given them some privacy. Standing here alone with Hunter, he was already starting to get regret his request to talk to him. He'd been great when he'd first seen him again and when he'd told his story but that didn't have to mean anything. Everything had changed. At least it seemed that way. Maybe it was just the rollercoaster of emotions he was going through that made it seem that way._

"_What's wrong, Dustin?" Hunter asked softly. Dustin noticed he was keeping his distance._

_He took a deep breath and bravely looked up at the other boy._

"_I … I want to know where we stand."_

"_I know things haven't exactly been great between us but that doesn't mean I want to give up." Hunter answered._

_Dustin felt hope flare up. "Are you sure?"_

_Hunter walked towards him and cupped his face. "Positive. I want to be here for you when you deal with what happened. I want to help you get through this. I love you, Dustin." _

"_I love you too."Dustin answered. Hunter pulled him into another embrace and Dustin held on for dear life._

**The end**

_So, I ask you one last time: what did you think? Let me know!_


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